FF8 Tournament: End of Time
by John Tomorrow
Summary: The final installment to the Tournament trilogy. Can the SeeDs find a way to stop a deadly disease from wiping out all humanity...and even if they do, are they able to stop the end of the world itself! *I'm back and writing again! Woo!*
1. The Beginning Of The End

_Ladies and Gentlemen, after three years of waiting, it has finally arrived – the final chapter in the Final Fantasy 8: Tournament trilogy. I apologise for making you all wait so long – which is why I started this ball with a cannon._

_I hope you enjoy._

Chapter 1 – The Beginning Of The End

Zell sat on the hard train seat and fidgeted with the many, many medals adorning his SeeD uniform. The dark-navy suit, for once, had been pressed and cleaned, the sleeves rolled down his thick forearms, the brass buckles and buttons all latched and locked in place.

His sky-blue eyes, normally bubbling with care-free life, were now flashing with dry nervousness. He looked down at the medal he was fiddling with – it was the Estharian Star of Heroism, pinned on his chest by Laguna personally. It looked like a star, with many differently angled spikes jutting out here and there, with a picture of Laguna in the centre, grinning like a madman down the camera. He turned it over to look at the back of it – etched into the back of the medal was an inscription – _This medal is the property of a total badass on the battlefield. You rock dude! – Laguna Loire._

He dropped his hands down to his knees, sighing with nervous anticipation. "I…I dunno guys…this suit…I still have that bloodstain on the heel of my pants that Ma couldn't get out. I think I'll go and change into the tux Squall bought me…"

Irvine, sitting across from Zell and dressed in his own Galbadian SeeD uniform – complete with his cowboy hat - reached out with his hand and slapped Zell sharply across his face. Zell's face was mixed with shock and horror as Irvine stuck his finger into the fist-fighter's face. "Look here, you're going through with this, and that's that. You look fine, now shut up!"

Zell sat back in his seat, rubbing his tattooed cheek, scowling over to the Slayer. "You didn't need to hit me, dude…"

"Look, ever since we got on the train – heck, ever since we left your place – dammit, ever since you popped the damn question to Angel, you've been freaking out about it! Why ask her to marry you if you're not sure whether you should be marrying her in the first place!?"

The fist fighter shrugged half-heartedly, leaning down to rest his elbows on his knees, wringing his hands together. "That's just it…I know we're meant to be together and everything, but…i…I don't know if…"

Irvine sighed with irritation, rubbing his hand across his face. "By the almighty Hyne, not this again…"

Zell sat upright, spreading his arms out. "Dude, look at the life we live! How don't you know that I wont be dead in a week, a month, maybe even tomorrow!! We're SeeDs, we fight monsters and armies and, and…and magical Sorceresses! Would you wanna get married knowing that you might leave your wife all alone?!"

_Gods, I wish Squall had decided to watch him instead…_ Irvine thought to himself. _This is getting tiresome…_ "Zell, I'm going to say this only one more time. Both Angel and you are SeeDs. You always will be. It's what we do. And she _understands that_, y'know?"

"I know…but does she _really_ understand?"

Irvine was about to slap him again before the door of the compartment opened, a beaming Selphie bounding into the room and instantly smashed into Zell, crashing them both to the floor, Zell crying out with a strangled moan as he was cuddled agonisingly. She was wearing a bright yellow bride's-maid gown, the skirt fluffy and bright, the blouse barely holding her generous chest together. Her brown curls were done up with a crown of lotus petals, Angel's favourite flowers

"You're getting married married married!!" Selphie squealed, putting her back into the cuddles, ignoring the popping noises coming from Zell's back.

The day had finally come. Almost a full year since Zell had popped the question to Angel, the day had finally arrived. The brand new Sorceress and Knight were about to get hitched, joined at the hip, tied the knot, and so forth. And the Knight was being weird about it. It wasn't that he didn't love Angel – he loved her with all his might, and that was a _lot_ of might. It was a question of personality.

Zell didn't think he was husband material.

"Babe, talk to this idiot before I bust a cap in his ass!" Irvine cried, looking down at the two of them, fighting down the slight jealousy that rose whenever his love tackled her male friends. It was fine with the female friends – just not with the males. He also felt a swell of pride – those Earth immigrants were teaching him so much!

Selphie sat up, placing both her hands on Zell's ears. "You getting cold feet Zell?! That's not like you at all!!" She began to shake his head, scowling down at him as she tried to rattle his brains back into working order. "This is the love of your life you're talking about and you're getting cold feet now I thought you had more integrity then that why would you think such things I cant believe you would do that to Angel and after all you've been through what with the Sorceress thing and everything!!"

"Selphie please!!" Zell cried desperately, fighting the urge to break her hands. "I think my brain is bleeding!!"

Dropping his head to the floor, the blond-slicked cranium hitting the compartment floor with a clunk, she stepped off him and stood over him, both her hands at her hips, scowling at him as hard as she could, scrunching up her cute little face. "Now look here you, you're gonna go get married whether you like it or not, and you're gonna love Angel forever and ever and have ten babies and you're gonna enjoy it!!"

Zell wondered just when Selphie became so persistant. Perhaps she had been hanging around Rinoa too much? He simply lay on the floor and nodded meekly, before drawing himself up and placing himself down on the seat again, smoothing his uniform down as he did. "Yeah…yeah, you guys are right…" He mumbled.

Selphie rolled her sparkling jade eyes, patting both hands on his shoulders. "Of course we are, silly! Zell, you're going to be the best husband ever!!"

Irvine could only nod. "I've been trying to tell you, dude, this is, like, what you were born to do. I mean lets face it - we all knew you were gonna be the first out of us to get hitched. It's fated, ya know?"

Zell nodded hesitantly. "I know…this is just so…new."

Selphie and Irvine simply looked at each other and sighed, Selphie moving to sit next to Irvine, trying to fold her puffy skirt between her legs as she did. Irvine shook his head and flicked his cowboy hat up, sitting back on his seat with an exasperated sigh. "By the gods, babe, of all the people to get scared about something like this…" He muttered.

Zell tried to ignore them. He knew he was being stupid. But he also knew what it was like to be raised by a single parent, to know the heart wrenching feeling of losing a father. Zell hadn't been adopted long before the original Sorceress Wars had started. His Pa had fought in the Wars…and had lost his life. Ma, bless her heart, had never truly gotten over it…even if she was going out with Justice, President of Galbadia, at the moment.

He smirked, absently fingering another medal on his uniform. This one was the Galbadian Presidental Medal of Honor. It looked a lot more formal then the Estharian one, a flat squat cross, two-inches squared, right over his heart. It had an insignia inscribed on the center of the cross, as opposed to the gaudy picture of Laguna's medal – _For consistent bravery and dedication to human life in the face of unspeakable turmoil. – Justice Delarn_

And, although Pa and Zell hadn't known each other for very long, he remembered warming to him instantly, just like he did with Ma. He was a Dincht, through and through, from the very moment they had picked him up from the orphanage.

He sighed again, letting the medal he'd been playing with drop back down. "Maybe I shouldn't be wearing all this stuff…I mean, I don't wanna give her lead poisoning when I…you know…'seal the deal'."

"I think you look nice with all of them! They look shiny!" Selphie squealed, clapping her hands with delight.

Irvine sighed, sitting forward. "Look dude, you seriously need to get a grip. I don't wanna have to push you down the damned aisle."

Zell sighed for the last time, before sitting up straight. "Y-you guys are right. I…I need to get a grip!" He stamped his fist into his knee. "By the gods, I'm gonna be the best damned husband Gaia has ever seen!" He stood bolt upright. "I'm gonna go marry the shit out of Angel!!"

And then he tried to leave the compartment.

Instantly he was set upon by both Irvine and Selphie, Irvine hooking his arms around Zell's shoulders and waist, trying to pull him back as Selphie slipped in front of the fist fighter, placing both her hands against his chest, pushing him back into the compartment. "No Zell, you cant go outside!!" Selphie yelled up to him. "It's bad luck to see the bride before the wed – ouch!"

Suddenly Zell twisted his body, Irvine's arms slipping off him and causing him to crash back into the compartment. In the same movement, he slid to one side, pushing Selphie around him and allowing her own forward momentum to cause her to crash to the floor – on top of Irvine, her skirt getting her legs tangled. Within a second Zell was gone, causing Irvine to groan in irritance. "C'mon babe, we gotta get after him!!"

"I know, I know, give me a minute – I don't want to tear my dress!!"

--

The train was moving faster now. It had left Balamb a few hours ago, and was making it's way towards Timber within the tunnels built within the ocean depths. People were standing in the corridor, looking up at the ceiling, which was made of plexi-glass. You could see all manner of sea-life whizzing past. Schools of Fastitocalon's swam near the tunnel often, and if you were lucky you could see Leviathan, unsummoned and enjoying him home.

Zell pushed past a few people crowded around a doorway and began to make his way to the end of the carriage, his jaw set, his eyes focused. _All these damned tourists…_ He grumbled inwardly, trying to fight his way through the throng.

The world had changed much this past year. The team's trips through the multiverse had been replicated by trained teams of experts, sent to gather information and relay a message of peace from the Gaian people. Earth was more secretive about the Gaian observations, tending to keep them at Area 51 for the majority of their visits, using specialists to teach them about Earth instead of letting the Gaian's investigate for them. Gaia, on the other hand, accepted all Earth citizens – usually soldiers and researchers – with open arms. Whilst the Universal Investigation Bureau - an investigative section of Garden that Commander Carpenter had begun when he had first started investigating the Arch – tolerated Earth's rudeness, their patience was beginning to wear thin.

Zell opened the compartment door to reach the next train cab, stepping lightly over the coupling to the platform on the next door, twisting the handle and opening it, the roar and wind of the tunnel around him being shut out as quickly as he had entered it.

Squall had been hesitant to activate the Bureau again, what with Carpenter having been tainted by the Hearts. All the soldiers had been handpicked by Carpenter out of SeeD's ranks, most from the Galbadian Garden. This smacked of a conspiracy – fleshing out the ranks with loyal subjects and placing a few randomly selected SeeDs from the other Gardens to throw off any suspicions – but they had all passed the tests Trabia and Balamb Gardens had thrown their way, physical, mental and metaphysical.

Carpenter's deceit, however, was unforgivable. His mind had been twisted by Heart Rinoa's dark power, resulting in raving lunacy after his cover had been blown. After trying to commit suicide, he had clammed up, even under immense torture. From what the interviewers had gleaned from him and all his fake records, he was a person of little interest in Te'Get, perhaps an actor. Having living under Heart oppression for many years, someone had come to him with an interesting mission – infiltrate a crack squad of teenage mercenaries, rise to the top of their ranks, and deliver information on them.

It was deliciously deviant. Who would know that he came from another universe? The concept at the time was mind-boggling. Papers had been forged, he had gotten to know the culture quickly, and almost instantly he was assimilated into the Gaian way of life. Besides, with all the Sorceress Wars and eternal conflict, people tended to act strange. He had fit right in.

He passed through another cab, walking through the door to the next one, before picking his way through the crowds again.

Te'Get had stayed to themselves. When the SeeDs defeated the Hearts, they had rushed through Terran, clearing out any stragglers and training up the Te'Gets to fend for themselves. Apparently they were becoming quite a formidable race, years of oppression and the frustration incumbent with it spilling forth. They were more happy to simply live in peace more then investigate other universes…however a few Te'Gets tended to show up around the world, wide-eyed in wonder and awe at the bustling cities and boisterous people.

_So now there's a few more people wandering about. Big deal._ Zell thought as he 'excuse me'd' through a gaggle of tourists trying to take pictures of the sea life above them. _I never knew how many people lived on Gaia till I saw the death-count of the Heart War. Now there's less, we need some more numbers._

He was beginning to approach the first cab, the one Angel had reserved so she could prepare for the wedding. The train-ride from Balamb to Galbadia took a long time, so instead of preparing at Galbadia, she decided to get ready here. _That's probably the reason why there's so many people packing the corridor…_ Zell grumbled to himself. _Down one train cab must cut down a lot of space to use for passengers._

However, she had asked for it, and he had given in. Part of him suspected that this was part of some plan to not have him see her before the wedding took place. It was custom in the Gaian universe for a bride not to be seen by the groom before a wedding…for some stupid reason. Zell scoffed at the idea, almost stepping on someone's foot as he did. _What crap. We should both walk in there and get it over with…not pussy-foot about…_ He thought to himself, oblivious to the conflictions he'd had prior to his sudden burst of enthusiasm.

"Finally…" He muttered to himself as he reached the door. He'd had to go through a lot of cabs to get to this one…

--

Within the cab, Quistis, resplendent in her bridesmaid gown, was beginning to put the final touches to Angel's hairstyle. "Alright, now don't move…"

The librarian did as she was told. Her wedding gown was a glowing white, sparkling sequins radiating from the bodice and the massive gown. Her chocolate brown hair had been pulled out of it's ponytail for once, a hair-brush drawn through it almost a million times by the perfectionist that was Quistis in order to get every single kink and knot out of it and give it a beautiful natural shine. Her hands played with the skirt again and again, drawing the light Estharian silk up into her fingertips before letting it drop back down. Tears continually fell down her cheeks, making her makeup run once again, but a smile as bright as the morning sun was glowing from her face.

This compartment was usually reserved for VIPs or SeeDs, but Zell had bought it out for the day using some of his tournament winnings, much to Angel's joy. She didn't wish to prepare for the wedding in Galbadia – the big city tended to scare her, with all the people milling around, even in a hotel. She liked the trains, and knew it was a good way to keep Zell from snooping around as well. Although Zell had gotten her to relax a little and become more confident in herself, it didn't change the fact that she had grown up in a religious family – as such, some things needed to be proper for her to be married.

Dee watched from the doorway in awe, sitting on the floor with her back on the door proper, her hands in her folds of her skirt as she watched it all unfold. Everything was new to her, and this was no exception. Whilst, back in her universe, people got married, there never was much of a fanfare as there was on this world. She couldn't stop looking at Angel, almost gaping at her as Quistis delicately entwined flowers within the bridal veil. "So pretty…"

The Immortal girl had grown accustomed to life on Gaia relatively quickly. Although she was over the age to join the ranks of SeeD, Ma Dincht had welcomed her with open arms, Zell giving her his old room to live in, seeing as he spent most of his time on the Balamb Garden or on missions. They spent much time together, however, Dee becoming quite proficient at stowing away on the Garden as it traversed the globe so much that Squall eventually had to relinquish and give her her own room – as long as she never joined a mission.

She mostly spent her time training with her father and getting to know her mother more. Although she was physically only a few years younger then both of them, cloned from the sperm of Zell during his time on the Immortal world and the egg of a woman who looked identical to Angel, both Angel and Zell treated her like their own daughter…only older and a lot smarter. The intelligence injections she was given when she was grown had given her an incredible amount of intellect, placing her on the same mental wavelength as Angel, who enjoyed her study as much as she did her romance novels. Dee was happy they had bonded so well – although she did get snotty when Zell and Angel ganged up on her and 'pulled rank', as Selphie put it.

"Dee, please…don't sit on the floor in your dress." Quistis snapped to the girl. "I don't know how many times I need to tell you."

"Sorry ma'am!" Dee replied smartly, jumping to her feet in an instant.

"I know I told you to guard the door for Zell, but you don't have to take me so seriously, dear…" Quistis continued, biting her bottom lip as she pushed her glasses up her nose further so she could see what she was doing.

"Yes she does!" Angel retorted, looking up to the taller woman. "He cant see me in this dress before the wedding, Quistis!"

"I know, I know…" Quistis replied tiredly. Angel had begged Quistis to help her get ready. Rinoa and Selphie were simply too unreliable. Rinoa cried too much and Selphie kept screaming 'you're getting married' at the top of her lungs. Quistis didn't understand how much work would be put into it, though…however, it did make her feel good to be wanted again. She almost felt like a big sister again, back at the orphanage…

Suddenly the door bumped into Dee's back, causing the eighteen-year old to yelp.

"Babe!!" Zell called from behind the door, his nose and shock of blonde hair peeking out from behind the door. "I love you baby!!"

Quistis instantly put her body between the door and Angel, who was cowering behind the taller woman, trying not to be seen. Dee placed both her hands on either side of the doorframe, forcing it to remain as closed as possible. "Zell Dincht, you are not supposed to be here!!" Quistis commanded as loudly as she could. "Flee now, if you value your life!!"

"C'mon Quistis! This is supposed to be our big day!!" Zell cried, fingers slipping through the door to grasp it firmly. "Cant I just take a peek?!"

"No! Go away!!" Angel yelled from behind Quistis' back.

"Daddy! Please go!" Dee cried – before paling and beginning to shake. "Daddy – Miss Trepe's eyes are beginning to glow!!"

Zell's nose, hair and fingers ducked away from the door – along with Dee – as Quistis' Laser Eye Blue magic burned a neat hole through the door in the general area where Zell's head should have been. Quistis' hands, one holding onto her delicate glasses, were shaking as she called out again, Dee looking up at the twin smoking holes in the doorway only inches above her head in confused shock. "By the almighty Hyne, you'd best be gone, Zell Dincht, or I will remove you myself!"

There was no reply from the now-shut door…

…Before a cheeky pair of eyes peered in through the smoking holes, spying something dressed in white –

Dee instantly opened the door and, with her skirt billowing out to shield her mother from her father's gaze, kicked out with her left foot, the foot colliding with Zell's guts and sending him stumbling back, gasping for breath. Quistis' scream of rage was quickly cut short as Dee slammed the door behind her and, hitching up her skirt with one hand and, grabbing Zell by the collar of his SeeD Uniform, raced down the corridor, dragging him out of the line of fire as Quistis opened the door and shot off a few more laser blasts, bellowing with rage as the yellow skirt and a pair of SeeD trousers disappeared into the next compartment.

--

Zell ran his fingers through his hair and straightened his coat when Dee dropped him, the SeeD composing himself as he stood back up. "Sorry hon…didn't know what came over me just the –"

_SMACK!!_

Dee's fist flew into Zell's jaw, sending him back into the wall behind him and causing him to curse out in pain. "Dammit, what did I do now?!"

"You should know better, Daddy!" Dee cried, pointing an accusing finger at Zell's face as he rubbed his jaw. "You know how much Ma has been looking forward to this day!"

"I know! I know! I just got caught up in my emotions…" Zell replied gruffly, snorting out a breath in irritation and pain. What was it with everybody hurting him today? Wasn't it supposed to be the one day that people _didn't _try to hurt him?

Dee nodded, satisfied that he had learnt his lesson, before stepping forward to give him a hug. "Sorry for hitting you…" She whispered into his medals.

He placed his arms around her, holding her close, careful not to poke her to death with all his jewellery as he rubbed his tattooed cheek against her cheek. "It's okay. It just seems like today everybody has been getting me…stubbed my toes coming out of my room this morning…Squall accidentally hit me in the shin with his stupid gunblade…Irvine keeps slapping me! And Rinoa and Selphie seem intent to kill me with all their crash-tackle hugs…"

Dee smirked, pulling away and looking up to Zell. "What are you complaining about? Since when do you ever feel pain?"

Zell sighed, reaching up to scratch the back of his neck. "I guess it's the lack of GFs…I got so used to using them all the time that I forget how crap it is not being so…well, powerful!"

This made the younger girl frown. "Why do you not have your GF's junctioned?"

Zell sighed again, his face dead-pan. "For some stupid reason. Something about the wedding being about the joining of just two souls, not four or eight. I gotta remain 'pure' during the ceremony, otherwise…'bupkis', as the Earthlings say." He said, lifting his fingers and making the quotation signs on 'bupkis', before letting his arms fall again, putting them into his pockets. "I guess I can understand it, though…"

"You shouldn't use them anyways. Uncle Irvine says that they mess with your memory. He says you forget about your childhood if you use them." Dee replied, stepping back and placing her hands behind her back, leaning against the wall opposite her father.

Zell smirked at her reply. "He may say that when he's not on a mission, but during one when we're under fire, it's all 'for gods sake Zell, just summon them! It's what they're there for!" He chuckled. "It gets more frequent when he runs out of ammo."

She giggled at that, which made him smile. "You look really beautiful in that dress." He said wistfully, drawing his left hand out of his pocket to lift something up that was in his hand. "…Which is kinda spoiled by this."

Dee blinked in confusion – before realising what he was holding.

The Universal Blade.

He must've lifted it off her whilst she was dragging him down the corridor. Clenching her teeth together and setting her jaw, she held her hand out for it.

Zell, also clenching his jaw, gripped the Blade tightly in his hand…before reluctantly putting it forward and, slowly, tipping it over to drop the weapon into the girl's outstretched palm.

Immediately she pulled it back, holding it close to her chest, gripping it with both her hands and looking at it sadly.

Zell said nothing, placing his hand back in his pocket and looking at her over the hallway. Although she was fascinated with Gaia and loved it immensely…she still felt homesick. Sometimes Zell or Angel would catch her staring at the Blade, almost as if it held some answers to getting back to the Immortal world. She had only been in the place for just under two months…but Zell understood. The entire time off-world, he had wanted nothing but to go back home.

And, whilst she had a home and a happy life here…she was born in the Immortal Universe.

Zell had caught her opened Tears in the universal fabric with the Blade and had yelled at her, fearing that she would leave him. Of course, he hadn't said that. He told her that doing something like that was dangerous, that gods-knows what might happen to her if she opened up the wrong Tear and something got her. This was, of course, after she had screamed at him for taking the Blade away from her.

It had been their first major fight…on Gaia, at least. Zell didn't like remembering about it…Angel, Dee and himself had all been in tears, Angel holding Dee close, trying to console the girl as Zell tried not to throw the Blade away.

He couldn't do it. Not to Dee. The girl had gone through so much, and had never done anything wrong with it before then. He made her promise that, if she felt like trying to contact the Immortals, that she should talk to Squall and Quistis first.

They would know what to do in that regard.

Right now, however, Zell reached out with his hand to squeeze her shoulder. "Hey…you aint in trouble, sweetheart. You should've told me, that's all."

Dee nodded quietly, before placing the Blade back into the folds of her skirt, hiding it expertly from outside view. "I know Daddy…I just…today is so important for you guys, but _just_ you guys, and I thought…well, I thought…"

"You'd bring something so you didn't feel lonely?"

The teen nodded. "…Something like that."

Zell smirked. "…I'll tell you what kiddo – I'm scared shitless right now. I have no idea what I'm doing, everybody I know has never done anything like this before, and this damned uniform gets itchy!" He waited for her giggles to subside before he continued. "…But I know I aint alone. I got all my friends around me, and I have you as well. If I have you, then you have me…ya know?"

"Yeah, I guess…" Dee replied quietly.

Zell pulled her back into his embrace, hugging her tightly to him. She snuggled up to him, grateful for his warmth and support. "I love ya sweety."

"I love you too, Daddy."

"ZELL!!"

Zell looked up, his eyes wide like saucers, as Selphie suddenly burst through the door to the next cab, the cute girl launching herself at him like a yellow blur, slamming him out of Dee's grasp and smashing him to the floor, the SeeD straddling Zell and pummelling him for tripping her up and getting away like that.

Irvine walked in behind them, closing the door behind him as he smiled down to Dee, tipping his hat up as he smirked suavely at her. "Well, aren't you a sight for sore eyes, little chicken…"

He watched Dee blush and shuffle her feet shyly, the girl obviously smitten with him – before he looked up to see Selphie and Zell converge as one, Selphie grabbing his ponytail as he turned to Flee and yanking him back for the pounding Zell was about to administer, Dee giggling with glee the whole while.

--

Whilst Irvine was receiving his punishment, the train finally pulled into Timber. The majority of the passengers disembarked here, tourists taking happy snaps the entire way and holiday-goers fresh from the Balamb Hotel (where the sea breeze will blow you away) not looking forward to going back to work.

Three men disembarked slowly. They were all large men, dressed in thick brown coats and large boots, heavy hoods covering their faces. As soon as they left the train they were met by a larger group of similar-clad men, some carrying briefcases, others carrying weapons such as swords or guns. Including the trio, there were around thirty of them. It almost looked like a congregation of some type, a gathering of Browncoats.

"Brothers." One of the trio called, lifting his hands, his brown sleeves pulling back slightly to reveal thick iron manacles adorning his wrists. "Today we achieve victory. Today we bring brilliance and light to this world. Today, all the prophecies will come true…and our new world will begin."

He turned then, lifting his hand for a moment…before waving it forward, the group taking heed of the gesture and moving forward like a single unit, boarding the train from the back and working their way up the compartments in single file.

--

Zell had Irvine's arm around his shoulder as he helped him down the corridor of the train cab, Selphie hanging back a few feet to give Irvine a swift kick in the rear every few feet. "I keep telling you, dude, Dee is off limits, but noooooooo, nobody ever listens to Zell…" Zell was saying to Irvine as the train was suddenly filled with rejects from the local monster matinee.

"And I keep telling YOU…I only think of Dee as your DAUGHTER…I'd never do anything to HER…you gotta BELIEVE MEEEE, ah, ow hon!" Irvine cried, his voice rising every time Selphie planted her dainty foot up his gunslinger ass.

"Take the pain!" Selphie growled back, scrunching up her skirt for another launch.

"Okay Selph, I think he gets it…" Zell injected, frowning as he pushed through the crowd of large men. Weird…they were all dressed the same. And they were almost all of the same build. Was there some kind of competition going on?

All the men they passed seemed to pause, turning back to stare at the trio as they tried to walk through. When they finally got back to the last carriage, Zell turned to slip his ticket into the door, opening the compartment, and looked down the corridor to see the entire group staring at them.

Zell smirked, hefting Irvine up onto his shoulder a little more. "Too many burritos." He called, before slipping into the room, Selphie close on their heels.

--

Zell deposited Irvine onto the couch and sat down across from him, scratching the back of his neck as he watched Irvine wince in pain. "Hey, you really okay dude?"

"No…I think you've dislocated something or something…" Irvine groaned as he shifted in his seat, Selphie sitting next to him to place her hand on his.

"I think we have a few Hi-Potions in our bag." She said as she patted his hand. "One of those will fix you right up!"

"Sure hope so…" Irvine groaned, before looking over to Zell. "…You seem a bit more relaxed."

Zell smirked, spreading his hands. "Hey, you know me, one cool customer, heh…" He sighed though, placing his hands together. "…Dee and me talked a bit, but I'm still a little scared. I know I shouldn't be, I just…I dunno…"

Selphie suddenly sat up from the open bag before her. "Irvine Kinnes!"

Irvine winced suddenly. "Ah crap…"

Pressing a button on the side of the compartment, a small table slid up from the centre of the room between the couches, right between Zell and Irvine, and when it was up Selphie slapped a loaded gun magazine down on top of it. "Do you want to explain to me what this is doing here?! We're going to a wedding, not a bad day in Abadan Plains!!"

Irvine groaned again. "C'mon babe! You know I cant relax without having ammo around me! You try spending your life without magic to fall back on!"

Selphie scrunched her face up and put her face against his, staring right into his pain-filled eyes…before giving him a quick peck on the nose and, tossing the clip back into the bag, grabbed out his Hi-potion and a pack of cards. "Here. It's not going to be that long till we're in Galbadia…lets play some cards!"

--

Within the train, the brown-coated men began to move up the compartments. As they moved through the cabs, the ones who held the briefcases paused by the doors between the train carriages.

They would wait for two of their brothers to move to the next carriage first, before stepping out to the coupling. Placing one foot on either platform, they would bend down – and slap the briefcase against the coupling holding the carriages together, the cases magnetically sticking to the metal.

Then they would stand upright and walk into the next carriage.

A group of ten stood outside Zell's compartment, some pulling out wicked looking knives, others pulling out large-calibre handguns, pulling the slides back to chamber rounds or easing hammers back to ready their weapons.

"We wait till we get the signal from the front carriage." One said to the rest.

--

Wihtin the compartment, Zell was beginning to get frustrated.

They were playing Snap. And Zell hated Snap. It wasn't because he got overexcited when he got a pair. And it wasn't because he was always the faster on the snap. It was that he always ended up destroying whatever they were playing on, sending the cards and debris flying everywhere.

Well, not this time. This time, he was going to exert a little control. Gently he placed down a three.

"Snap!" Selphie squealed, slapping another three down on the three already down and collecting up all the cards. She bounced up and down in her seat, giggling like a child as she placed all four cards in her hand, sorting them out by colour and number respectively.

Zell heaved a long sigh. This was another reason why he didn't like playing Snap. It also happened to be Selphie's favourite game. And when she won, didn't she let you know.

Irvine was too busy chugging down his Hi-potion to play, so Selphie played for him, pulling a card from his deck to place it on the table.

Zell looked out the window to watch the platform man look about for any other boarders. "I wonder what the group of guys are on for?" He asked no-one in particular as he lazily tossed down a card.

"Maybe the bodyguard union is being held in Galbadia?" Selphie replied, quickly planting her own card – and looking crestfallen as it didn't result in her favourite word.

"Maybe that Occult Fan convention has started." Irvine said, shivering as the Hi-potion took effect and placing down one of his own cards.

"Nah, Squall's had tickets for months. No way he'd miss out on it, not even for me." Zell replied, playing his hand.

"Well, maybe that's why him and Rinoa went to Galbadia first…to catch a bit of it before the wedding starts…" Selphie replied in anticipation…before frowning sullenly as she threw down her card.

"Are you kidding? All Rin's ever talked about for the past month is this wedding." Irvine replied with a smirk, playing his card. "He's probably being dragged around now, being forced to try on different shirts and watch Rinoa try on shoes."

They all lurched forward suddenly as the train hissed and whirred, beginning it's departure from the Timber Station. Selphie quickly pushed the cards, which had slipped off themselves, back into place and poked Zell in the shoulder. "C'mon, c'mon!!"

She was really beginning to bug him. But Zell smirked inwardly as he placed down his card. Even without his magic junctioned, he could still react to things faster then they could. He'd been trained since a child, after all. So when he placed down his card and he saw he had a pair of fives, he stood up, his fist raised high as he jumped in the air - to _slam_ it back down on the table, the fist sailing straight through the cheap wood to crash into the floor of the train, a loud _donnnnng_ emitting from the floor as he dented the thick steel plating beneath, shaking the entire carriage as well.

Cards and woodchips blew into the air as he looked up to Irvine and Selphie, staring at him with wide eyes, as he smirked and said that magical word.

"Snap!"

--

Outside, the goon-squad heard the loud _donnnng_ and jumped with alarm.

"Almighty gods, what was that?!" One asked, alarmed.

"Was that the signal?!" Another called.

"We'll have to assume it was! Go!!" The leader called, stepping forward to kick the door down, his black Baltheir Mk12 rifle gripped tightly in his hands.

--

Within the compartment Zell prepared himself for the worst – before someone kicked the door in. "What the?!" Was all he got out – before the Baltheir Mk12 fired it's first shot, the Demolition Ammo flying out of the barrel across the open space as Zell turned to face the intruders – before smashing into his chest, the round hitting him so powerfully it literally blew him off his feet, the short fist-fighter flying back – and out the window, the glass shattering around him as he fell out of the moving train!

"Zell!!" Selphie screamed as Irvine reacted to the intruder, his arms shooting forward, his palms open – to catch the twin Vincent Valentine .45's hidden up his sleeves, the guns booming loudly as soon as his fingers curled around the grips, blowing the rifleman back into the corridor with only six rounds.

Pushing Selphie off him, the girl trying to get to the window to see where Zell had fallen, Irvine moved quickly across the compartment, his cowboy hat falling off his head as he reached the entrance and stooped slightly, entering the corridor – and just missing his head getting blown off by the two men situated side-by-side at the door, both men firing at the same time – and shooting each other by mistake, one man blowing a neat hole into his partner's neck whilst the other was decapitated. Irvine's arms spread out as the two men fell backwards, the gunslinger falling into a crouch – as he fired both guns simultaneously, the four other men behind the first two falling underneath a hail of bullets.

Then he raced forward, his shoulder slamming into the door before him to burst into the compartment across the corridor from them, the frightened people hidden within screaming as he entered, throwing toiletries and candy at him to ward him off.

"Get off, I'm a SeeD, get out of it – babe!!" He screamed across the hall as he popped the spent clips from his Vincent's. "Need some mags!!"

Irvine watched as a torn and battered Pet Pals. Vol 3 and an old copy of Timber Maniacs! was thrown into his room.

"Not those ones! Gun mags! Check under my underwear!!"

He sure hoped she'd hurry. The goons outside, the three left down the corridor, were being suspiciously quiet…

Before something bounced across the corridor to roll into his room.

"Ah crap!!" Irvine yelled, letting his Vincent's drop back into his sleeves as he reached back for the slide-up table the civilians were hiding beneath, somehow wrenching it from it's housing and planting it over the door –

Before the grenade went off.

Instantly, what was once a smooth surface called the bottom of the table was now riddled with sharp little objects. _Frag grenades…_ Irvine mused, letting the table-top fall back down – revealing the entire corridor peppered with fragments of metal. A dangerous little toy the Earthlings gave to the Gaian army when they were in the Heart War – they were standard issue, so a lot went missing during the war.

_I guess I found some people who had some…_ Irvine thought to himself – as two handgun magazines were thrown out of Selphie's room and into Irvine's, the gunslinger catching them and loading his guns quickly –

As a screaming madman entered the room, his meaty hand brandishing a curved knife, Irvine falling onto his back in shock – and planting a foot on the Browncoat's chest as he dove onto the gunslinger, keeping him and the slashing knife at bay as he pushed the knife-hand against the wall with his right wrist, his other coming up into the knifer's face – to put a bullet into his temple.

"Selphie!" Irvine called, shoving the dead weight off him and moving to the doorway, crouching next to it as he used his sleeve to wipe the blood from his face. "Can you see Zell?!"

"No!" Was the reply, Irvine's eyes narrowing as he overheard the two remaining men rushing forward, hoping to interrupt them during their talking. "We're moving too fast now!"

Judging where they were by their pounding footsteps, Irvine suddenly twisted and fell onto his back into the middle of the room, the civilians behind him shrieking more as he suddenly fired recklessly, his bullets slashing straight through the walls of the carriage in the general direction where the enemy was approaching. His effort was rewarded by the stomping noise of the boots ending with duel thumps, a brown-sleeved hand falling into the doorway to drop a dagger into the compartment.

Standing up slowly, the only sounds Irvine heard now was the whimpering of the passengers behind him and the soft 'rickety-click' of the train-tracks whirling beneath them. Edging to the doorway, stepping over one of the dead bodies as he did, he quickly poked his head out into the corridor to see if there were any survivors –

There were none.

Walking across the hall and into their room, Selphie stood from where she had been hiding in the corner and threw her arms around his neck, crushing him to her in a passionate embrace. "Irvine!!" She whispered into his ear emotionally.

Irvine returned the hug briefly, before pushing her off him gently, crouching down to retrieve more ammunition from his bag. "I dunno what's going on, babe, but judging by the amount of guys we saw getting on the train, I think we'd better group up with Quistis." He unloaded his handguns and placed clips into the ammo-slots, letting the slides click into place before letting the weapons slide back up his sleeves.

Selphie nodded, squatting beside him as he began to rummage around in the bag. "I couldn't see Zell – do you think he'll be okay?"

"It'd take more then a bullet to the chest to put Zell down." Irvine muttered confidently as he unzipped something within the large bag – to pull out a sub-machine rifle, slapping the slide into place. Instantly, almost by reflex, Selphie's hand whipped out to smack him across the head, causing him to cry out in pain and look down at her with confused eyes. "What?! What have I done?!"

The small girl reached out to grab the barrel of the weapon, shaking it roughly. "Do you call this holiday clothes?"

Irvine pouted as he pulled the gun out of her grasp. "It's Laguna's Desperado…I like to take it with me on special occasions…"

Selphie looked at him, her face screwed up – before she frowned harshly, her voice a high shriek. "Even on that time we took leave at Hasberry Plains?!"

Cold blood never ran colder through the gunslinger's veins then at this point. A part of him wished it had been him that had been shot out of the train. "…Maybe." He replied with chagrin, before quickly picking up the bag with his free hand and shoving it into her arms, before doffing his cowboy hat and planting it firmly onto her head. "Here. You're ammo-bunny. Stick behind me."

And with that, he quickly turned and made for the door, the butt of the rifle pressed firmly into his shoulder as he checked the corridor – and advanced slowly.

Selphie could grind glass to powder with her teeth as she shot lasers at him with her eyes from beneath the brim of the hat – but that was for another time and place. For now, she would follow him, and plan on ways to kill him as they made their way to their friends.

--

Outside the train, on the clear green grassed Lanker Plains, Zell sat up suddenly, his hand gripping his coat where he'd been shot.

His trip through the window had shredded the thick cloth his coat was made of, and he was covered in grass stains and a bit of mud, but aside from that he looked fine. Peering down at the immense pain radiating from his chest, he continued to gasp for breath – before stopping in surprise, frowning and blinking hard.

He couldn't believe what he saw.

The Galbadian Presidential Medal of Honour now had a massive dent within it, the cross' tails bent outward by the force of the bullet, which had left a small indent just off the centre of the words.

"Who woulda guessed it…?" He asked no-one in particular, scratching the back of his neck with a short laugh – before he jumped suddenly, the fact that someone had shot him out of the train making him jump to his feet.

The first thing he thought was, '_holy crap, how the heck did I survive that?!'_

The second thought was, _'It was one of the monster men…they must be taking over the train!'_

Only one word shifted through his mind then. A name really.

"…Angel…"

Suddenly he span, grunting in agony as he began to run, his muscles sore from flying out of a moving train and rolling along the grass for a few seconds, to head back towards Timber, his painful lope soon replaced by a steady sprint as he willed the pain into the back of his mind.

--

"Gods, I swear there were less then this when we came in!!" Irvine shouted over the bullets pinging and screaming around them, ducking back into the compartment he had pushed Selphie into and flinching as the enemy's rifles tore the wooden doorframe apart.

"Maybe there were already some on the train when it arrived!" Selphie yelled back, digging into the bag to place a magazine into Irvine's awaiting hand, the gunslinger pressing the magazine tightly into the Desperado before chambering a round and, with a short breath, swung into the corridor to place the butt of the rifle against his shoulder and fire off three quick bursts, sparks flying around him as the Browncoats returned fire.

They had managed to move up two cars, which had been good – until something exploded behind them, Selphie squealing as the back of the cab was exposed to the world, screaming air and debris flying all over the place as the bad guys began to detonate their bombs.

"We have to keep moving!!" Selphie yelled at Irvine when he ducked back in, sweat beading on his forehead as he waited for another opportunity to counter-attack. "The bombs went off in a synchronised pattern!! I figure we only have another minute and a half before the next one up goes off, and then we're…"

Irvine stepped back out into the corridor, shouting out a battle-roar as the Desperado rattled in his hands, ejecting spent .45 shells as he sprayed death at his enemies. "I got it!" He shouted to Selphie – before suddenly leaping forward, running down the corridor with the weapon firing wildly, keeping the goons in their cover-points – before he turned the corner, slipping down onto the laquered wooden floor to his back and spraying the Desperado left and right, cutting a vicious swarth through the remaining forces.

Lifting his legs up, he flipped his body up to his feet, a martial arts manouvere Zell had taught him a year ago, and turned to look down at Selphie as she ran towards him. "Mag!"

Selphie was already digging into the bag as she ran, tossing him the magazine as she approached him, the cowboy ejecting the spent one and slamming the fresh magazine home as he burst into a run to reach the next doorway, chambering the round as he went.

--

Back at Timber, Zell ran down the train-tracks and, approaching the platform, placed a hand on the concrete and flipped himself up onto it, his speed not slowed at all as he ran past the conductor, who blinked in surprise as he was brushed aside by the short blond man in uniform.

Running out of the train station, Zell jumped onto the hand-rail of the escalator leading up to the platform and slid down quickly, knocking a few people over on the way down, not bothering to say sorry as he leapt off at the bottom and ran for the car-park.

Coming into the packed lot, Zell ran for the nearest car he figured would be fast – a Kisaragi CC7, a sleek navy-blue sports-convertible with spiked curls for the rims and around the siding. Zell absent thought they looked like pinwheels as he leapt over the door into the driver's seat.

_No time for hotwiring. Time for a bit of Dincht magic!_

Linking his fingers together, Zell pushed his hands out, cracking his knuckles – before lifting his fist high to smash it down into the dashboard, the car suddenly roaring into life as he pulled his hand out of the indent.

"Like a charm…heh…" Zell said apprehensively, before slipping the car into gear and, tyres squealing, reversed out of the bay and sped out of the parking lot, burning rubber marks on the asphalt and tyre-smoke the only remnants of his passing.

--

Irvine grit his teeth as he fired forward with one hand, the Desperado tucked under his elbow against his hip rattling wildly as his other hand grabbed Selphie by the back of her dress and hauled her into the cab, the door swinging shut with a click behind them – before a loud boom and a flash emitted from behind it, the cab they had only just been in slowly receding into the distance.

They'd moved further forward – but now there were no more compartments left to hide in, the train cab passenger-seating only now until they reached the VIP/SeeD section. Irvine threw himself behind a seat, trying to make himself as small as possible as the bullets from the Browncoats chewed it to shreds, before hefting the Desperado over his head and fired blindly down the carriage, shell-casing raining down on him and burning his skin, causing him to grit his teeth in pain and exertion.

Selphie crouched behind the seat opposite him, holding the bag tightly to her chest, her smaller frame making her harder to hit. She placed a hand on her cowboy hat as she yelled over to Irvine when he lowered the machine-gun to reload. "Hey! Toss me a gun!!"

Irvine dangerously paused mid-load. Giving Selphie a projectile weapon was dangerous. Playing with fire, suicidal intentions dangerous. Magic was different. Once you cast it at a person, you rarely missed, unless they were skilled in paramagical defences. But…he did need another person backing him up. Seeing as they had all left their GF's back on the Garden in respect for Angel, Selphie didn't have any magic to fight back with. Not to mention she hadn't packed her nunchaku.

Reluctantly, Irvine's left hand opened, allowing a VV to slip into his palm. Spinning the gun around so he gripped the barrel, he hesitated only for a moment before sliding it over the bullet-shell covered floor to Selphie…

…Who cackled with glee as she picked up the weapon, pulling the slide back to chamber a round like Irvine had taught her – to release it, the heavy gun jumping in her hand to suddenly discharge, blowing out the window above Irvine's head and showering him with glass. "Sorry!!" She yelped – before craning around the seat she was hiding behind, the gun held out straight and firm as she focused down the sights at her enemy and began to fire, the blow-back from the weapon causing her bangs to bounce and her face to wince under the sudden force of the recoil.

The cowboy didn't have time to argue or complain. He simply loaded his gun and continued to fire, trying to keep the countdown to the next timed explosion going in his head amidst all the chaos…

--

_That cant be good…_ Zell thought to himself, the wind ripping through his blond hair as he left the road and, angling the car up through a fence-line, mounted the train-tracks, the Kisaragi's engine roaring as he put his foot down – to pass the caboose of the train, spying the smoking end in the rear-vision mirror as he flew past it.

Figuring Irvine and Selphie was alright – he suspected Selphie would be beating Irvine up outside the caboose if they weren't – he soldiered forward, shoving the car into another gear, the engine screaming in protest, the tires rattling as they slipped over the train tracks.

His eyes widened as he flew past another smoking carriage, this one smoking on both ends, the fist-fighter having to swerve off the tracks in order to avoid it. _Systematic breaking-down of the fighting area…they must be targeting the front carriage._ He deduced, thinking back to the SeeD training in how to occupy a train.

With all the carriages, a train was slow and cumbersome – if you separated the train and it's front carriage from the rest of the links, however, it became a rather fast getaway vehicle. Standard SeeD operating procedure when occupying a train was to fight from the back up, so as not to leave anybody behind to flank you.

Zell figured this would've taken a mix of planning and luck, though. The attack on the train was a planned one…but if they were going for someone specific, they would've simply uncoupled the carriage before the one carrying the target, so he or she had nowhere to run to. They were de-coupling systematically, however – sign that they didn't know where or who they were looking for. _Timed intervals too…_ Zell figured as he swerved to avoid another carriage, the tyres screaming as they ran through the Galbadian dirt and mud.

He sat up in his seat, however, as he finally spied the locomotive in the distance, the six funnels belching white smoke recklessly as it thundered along the tracks.

This made him grin. _I'm catching up…_ He thought victoriously as he slowly approached the end of the train, spying the smoking end of the last carriage and noting the flashes of gunfire within the windows…

Before he watched as an explosion rocked the entire car, the carriage sliding off the end of the train to begin bearing down on him!

Twisting the wheel hard right, Zell sent the Kisaragi flying off the tracks and off the train line altogether, smashing through the fenceline and mercifully sending him onto a dirt track that ran along the train tracks. He was breathing heavily, sweat beading down his face in the cheery afternoon sun as the carriage flew past him, allowing him to twist the wheel back to the left and through the fence one more time, jolting up and onto the train-line once more.

"Dammit…just wanna marry Angel…that so much to ask…" He muttered to himself over the roar of the wind as he planted his foot down harder on the accelerator, the sports-car lurching forward to pass the car at the end of the train. It was now the last of the passenger cars – after this was the VIP car, the one Angel was on.

He kept his eyes on this carriage intently, speeding up on it, getting closer and closer – before his blood ran cold.

Several of the men he'd brushed past before within the caboose was climbing up the ladder on the end of the VIP car to reach the roof, several carrying cases of some sort.

The chill in his veins suddenly became boiling hot as he realised what they were doing. _They're going to blow the car to smithereens!_

Suddenly, his mind switched into gear. His foot planted down firmly on the accelerator, he reached down to grip the gear-stick, snapping it off it's holdings with a grunt, before wedging it between the dashboard and the accelerator, keeping the engine's revs up high. Then, shifting in his seat, he began to stand up slowly, his dirty SeeD uniform dirty and ruffled as he placed one foot on the plush leather of his seat, one hand on the wheel of the car.

He edged it closer and closer, one eye in front of him, the other fixed on the back of the VIP carriage, the Kisaragi's engine screaming at him now, protesting the immense strain it was being put under. When he was close enough to the train, he suddenly propped himself up, gripping the windshield with one hand as he _placed his foot on the steering wheel_, holding it steady as he tried to judge the jump from his position.

His leg was solid on the wheel, trying desperately to keep it from shaking loose as he reached out with his hands, trying to grab a railing or something – before he saw the light fixture, several hundred meters down the track, beginning to bear down on him.

Now or never. Gritting his teeth, he jumped desperately, his foot slipping on the wheel and sending the car into a turn _away_ from the train, twisting sharply to the right – before buckling over, rolling end over end, the majestic sports car being reduced to a scrappy wreck as it smashed into the light fixture, cutting in half, the engine exploding as soon as the fuel lines were severed.

Zell would've watched and said something cool if he hadn't been hanging onto the roof ladder for dear life, his left hand scrabbling for purchase as his right hung limply by his side. The train was moving at unbelievable speeds now, having lost it's excess weight, and Zell was thrown about like a ragdoll in the wind. Somehow his fingertips remained curled around the metal rung, his face twisting in exhertion as he forced his body to spin out – and grab another bar.

_Just wanna get married…_ He thought to himself as he grasped the rungs tightly, hugging himself to them, before beginning to ascend to the top of the carriage. _…Just wanna start my life again…with her…_

--

Atop the carriage, the three large Browncoats had placed their bombs and was beginning to walk to the locomotive. The leader stood at the foot of the ladder, tucking something into his pocket, the wind roaring around him forcing him to move slowly as he crouched – before he narrowed his eyes, sensing something behind him.

Shifting around under the immense wind-speed, he looked behind him to see a very pissed Zell gripping the collar of one of his collegues, the first one sliding off the edge of the train as the second slumped within Zell's grasp.

Between them sat a briefcase, the lid open to reveal a large amount of plastic explosive.

The Browncoat's eyes shot venom at Zell, the large man turning fully to face the shorter fist-fighter. "We meet at last!" He called over the screaming wind.

"You're messing up my big day, pal!!" Was the answer he was given, the currents almost swallowing up the words before they reached his ears.

"You're messing up the world!" Was the barked reply, full of contempt.

Now Zell was before him, in the afternoon sun, he could see inspect the Browncoat more clearly. The larger man's hood had been blown off by the wind and the movement, revealing his head – which was covered by tattoos. Literally every part of exposed flesh, from the lips to inside the ears, were scrawled tiny letters indelibly writ in ink. He wasn't a handsome man either – a jagged scar ran over his left cheek in a hook which lead over the bridge of his nose to end at his right ear-hole. The scar was jagged, yet straight – Zell guessed it had been self-inflicted, yet left to heal on it's own. A very painful process.

The two men suddenly advanced, their steps staggered as they moved over the speeding train, the two men circling each other like snarling beasts. Hook-Face had the build of a wrestler, thick and beefy, yet his eyes held an intelligence usually belied by such strength. He had a small smile on his face – and Zell guessed what it meant. _If we duke it out here, I'll have to rely on my strength and not my speed – and he knows he's got the upper hand there._

Now they were at opposite ends, Hook-Face where Zell had been and vice-versa. The Browncoat's smile was broadening to a grin, which made Zell anxious. Why hadn't the bonehead made a move? "C'mon Scarface, come get some!" Zell yelled over the wind, spreading his legs wide and lifting his arms up, his face set…

…As Hook-Face placed his hand in his pocket and pulled out what he had been carrying before.

_A remote detonator._

"Ah crap." Zell muttered to himself, his voice lost in the wind as his mind whirled...

"This is the beginning of the end." Hook-Face yelled as he pressed the detonator in his palm and curled his fingers around it, his large thumb raised high above the red button…

Before he dropped the detonator, gripping his now-bleeding hand, howling in pain!

Zell, at a loss of what to do, had brought one of his hands back – to grip Laguna's medal, ripping the sharp star from his lapel to throw it hard at Hook-Face. He hadn't expected it to dig into the larger man's knuckles, however, causing the detonator to fall and roll towards the edge of the train!

Hook-Face, tearing the star out of his hand, twisting like a cobra, his large frame falling down to a knee to grasp at the detonator – and catch it just by his fingertips!!

He was laughing as he pushed himself laboriously to his feet, a vicious sneer on his tattooed face as he turned, his fingers wriggling to gain a firmer hold on the item – to see two boots flying straight towards him.

Using the time Hook-Face had used to grab the detonator, Zell had raced forward in long, loping strides, the train's speeding forward-momentum giving him the necessary boost to leap with both legs extended – to slam straight into Hook-Face's head, the larger man releasing the detonator in surprise as he was knocked back – and off the top of the train, toppling down to the edge of the tracks below!!

Zell landed on his back, however, and continued to slide straight off the edge of the train – but not before throwing his hand out and grabbing a vent-opening, the vent's wings cutting into his fingers, blood trickling from the cuts down into the vent – as his other hand slashed out and scooped up the detonator!!

He hung there for a moment, almost severing his fingers as he felt a wave of relief wash over him, before he flipped the safety back onto the detonator and stuffed it into a pocket and, with a painful grunt, pulled himself back up to the roof of the carriage.

He sat there for a moment, smirking as the body of the tattooed hook-faced man disappeared as quickly as he'd arrived. "It's not the quantity the ladies like, pal!" He yelled triumphantly, lifting his hand to point his finger at his own tattoo. "It's the quality!!"

He didn't have time to celebrate, however. As he'd hung there, he'd looked down to see another briefcase magnetically attached to the outer-edge of the car – seeing as he'd taken out all three of the goons, he figured there would be another case attached to the opposite end of the car as well. Lifting himself up, he staggered over to the case stuck to the roof to get a better look at what he was dealing with.

He didn't want to get into the VIP car until he was certain Angel was completely safe…

--

Irvine suddenly kicked the door open, his Desperado swinging into the car – before it was ripped out of his hands and a fist was smashed into his chest, sending him tumbling back into Selphie, who squealed as she was crushed beneath his weight, the gun in her hand going off and blowing another hole into the compartment.

The cowboy's breath had been completely knocked out of him – but his right hand came up, his other Vincent slipping into it and his fingers curling around it as he squinted in pain, trying to get a bead on the three targets before him –

"Irvine?!"

Irvine blinked at his name being called, coughing as his mind clicked over. "…Quistis?"

From the doorway came Quistis, a length of rope that looked like it had come from one of the fancy curtains curled in her hands, her SeeD uniform ruffled and unkept. Lashed on one end was a bloody wedding shoe, the pointy tip and heel smeared with blood and hair. Behind her came Dee, holding the Desperado in one hand, a look of shock on her beautiful face. She had torn the majority of her skirt away to allow better movement for her legs. "Sorry Uncle Kinnes, we thought you were one of them!"

She pointed back to the pile of bodies that littered the car. Some had their heads caved in, others had whip-marks torn from their coats, others had their limbs all twisted around.

Pushing himself up off the floor, helping Selphie up as well, the two of them entered the car, closing the door behind them. "Is this all of them?" Irvine asked Quistis as Dee, blushing, handed his machine-gun back.

"All that came into this car. I'm assuming you and the others took care of the rest?"

Selphie winced. "About that…Zell got knocked off at Timber. We'll probably have to go get him…before…you know."

"It's okay, Selphie." Angel sadly called from behind Dee and Quistis. The two women stepped back to reveal Angel sitting on a seat in the middle of the room. Her dress, the beautiful Estharian silk, was ripped and torn and stained with blood, the skirt completely destroyed. Her chocolate brown hair was a mess, strands and tangles in all directions, her wedding veil torn and skewed on top of her head. Her makeup ran dangerously with her tears as she sobbed again. "…I'd rather he not see me like this anyways…"

Selphie tutted, stamping her foot on the ground, before running over to a pile of corpses and giving one a swift kick. "How dare you ruin Angel's big day!"

Irvine, still breathing heavily from Dee's attack, nodded in agreement as he collapsed into one of the seats. He opened his coat to see he'd only had one clip left. Lucky gunslinger…

Quistis stepped forward, looping her make-shift whip over and over her arm. "We don't have time to rest. This was a calculated attack. We need to check the remaining car for survivors and look over the rest of the train for any hidden enemies. Selphie, take Dee and search the last car. Irvine and I will go to the locomotive and see if the driver survived."

"Quistis…can you gimme a sec…" Irvine wheezed, holding his hand up as he hefted the Desperado. "…I need a second…"

This got an irritated sigh from Quistis. "Unless you're injured, I don't want to hear about it. You're a SeeD, now act like one!"

"Yeah you, act like one!" Dee remarked, slugging Irvine in the shoulder with a grin…

…Only to watch him collapse to the floor out of his seat.

Dee blinked, looking over to the other women. "I didn't hit him that hard, I swear!!" She said hurriedly, throwing her hands up in slightly in defence of Selphie…

…Who ignored Dee and rushed to Irvine's side, dumping her bag and gun and rolling him over – to gasp in shock.

The gunslinger was shuddering in her arms, his tall frames wracked with tremours. His mouth was foaming, his eyes glazed and rolling back into his skull.

"Quistis!!" Selphie screamed, looking up to the woman as she held Irvine close. "Whats happening to him?!"

"I don't know, Selphie…" Quistis whispered as she knelt beside her friend, pressing her fingers to his neck to check his pulse. "…But whatever it is, it's hurting him."

"Poison?" Angel asked, finally getting up from her seat to stand next to Dee.

"It looks like it – did he eat anything out of the ordinary, or was any of the weapons you were attacked with poisoned?" Quistis asked Selphie.

"Not that I noticed – we shot at them mostly – oh gods Quistis, he's burning up!"

"Dee!! Get me that ice-bucket!" Quistis ordered the girl, Dee jumping in slight shock at the sudden ferocity of the command, before spinning and grabbing the bucket as ordered. As soon as the thing was in her hands, Quistis dumped the ice onto Irvine's chest, pulling his coat open to allow the frozen cubes to touch his flesh – where they began to sizzle!!

"This is no ordinary poison, Selphie. We need to get him to Deling City fast, otherwise his body will burn up!" Quistis remarked, turning back to Dee. "Go and find out if the driver is still alive – if he is, tell him not to stop till we get to Deling, got it?!"

Dee nodded, before turning and running to the end of the car, moving through the door in a flash of blond hair.

Angel stepped up to Quistis then, concern on her face. "Quistis…what about Zell? What if he's…hurt?"

Quistis smirked grimly as she ran to the small mini-fridge embedded in the wall and opened it, grabbing out all the ice and cold liquid she could carry. "I highly doubt something like falling off a moving train will hurt Zell, Angel…right now we'll focus on Irvine's situation and when we get to Deling we'll send Zone out looking for him."

"O-okay…" Angel replied quietly, looking down at Selphie and Quistis in concern – before blinking as something dropped onto her face. Lifting her fingers to touch the liquid, she looked at her fingertips – to notice…

"…Blood?"

Curiously she looked up to the ceiling, covered in scratched and bullet holes – to see that she was standing underneath a vent, situated in the centre of the ceiling, a small droplet of blood forming on the edge of the vent's blade…

--

Outside, amongst the roaring wind and unbelievable pressure, lay Zell, his fingers jammed into the vent as his muscles spasmed again and again, his entire body twitching and his eyes rolling up till the whites were shown, the thick foam emitting from his mouth being carried away by the wind…

--

_That's right people. The name's John Tomorrow…and I'm not here for a haircut._

_((I apologise for any spelling/world errors. I bashed it out rather fast and haven't had time to replay the game to refresh my memory.))_


	2. Terminal Freedom

Chapter 2 – Terminal Freedom

Squall watched a family with muted interest, leaning his shoulder against a pillar holding up the walkways between platforms within the Deling Station. Garbed in his SeeD Uniform, he got more then a few stares as people walked past him, almost as if recognising him from somewhere…

He ignored the gawkers and watched the father pick up his little girl, hefting her high into the air, watching her squeal in delight as the mother beamed at the both of them. It seemed the man had been away for a long time, judging by his suitcases, and was happy to be with his family once more.

A small smile, rare and precious, slowly formed on Squall's face. Although he would never admit it to anybody – save Rinoa – it was this kind of reunion, this kind of interaction, that humanity had within itself, that gave him the strength to move on, to keep fighting for peace. The world was never a small place when you had family.

"Hey you!" Rinoa said into his ear, slipping her arms around his hips to hug him tightly to her from behind. "What are you looking at?"

"Nothing…" Squall automatically responded, placing his hands on hers…before linking his fingers into hers. "…I mean…I was looking at that family over there. They look happy to see their father again."

"I'll say!" Rinoa chimed as the wife embraced her husband passionately.

Squall sighed and rolled his eyes, turning around in her arms to look down to her. "Where have you been?"

"Getting drinks! Want one?" She asked, reaching into the bag slung over her shoulder to pull out two crisp-cold cans of soda-pop.

The gunblader nodded silently, taking the one offered without a word of thanks and opening it, the can emitting a soft 'tsk' as the seal was broken.

Rinoa stood back as Squall drank his cola, leaning against the pillar he'd recently occupied. She was dressed in her normal civilian clothes, the blue cardigan pulled tight across the black blouse and pant/skirt combo she wore beneath. She wasn't planning to get ready until the others showed up. Apparently as a joke, Irvine had hidden her dress within the train.

Angelo, her faithful companion, had given him a good barking to.

The dog sat beside her now, having followed her to the kiosk and back, looking up to her with a hungry whine. The animal had been her only companion for many years growing up – she was lucky Squall overlooked him when they had moved in together. He hadn't seemed like much of an animal person to begin with…until he revealed his collection of Pet Pals to her one day, hidden discreetly on his bookshelf. She had gushed love at the cuteness of his embarrassment.

"Stupid Irvine…" She muttered as she knelt beside Angelo, smiling apologetically at the dog as she reached into the bag for his treat – a little edible bone-biscuit she had bought in Timber as they'd passed through on the train earlier in the morning. Smiling as the dog's behind wagged manically, missing it's tail since a pup, she placed the treat on it's nose, watching it wait the appropriate five seconds – before suddenly snapping it up with a flick of it's snout, gobbling the treat down within seconds.

"Oh gods Rinoa, not the treats…" Squall groaned as he watched Angelo begin to back flip.

"Oh c'mon Squall, he loves it!" Rinoa said with a laugh, watching her dog entertain her.

"Its embarrassing in public…" He grumbled, watching other passengers stare as the dog did another back flip.

"Bah, they're just jealous!"

Squall groaned again and tried not to look at his watch. He had been woken up in the wee hours to be dragged from bed by Rinoa, first to go and have breakfast at the Balamb Hotel (where the sea breeze will blow you away), before forcing him to go shoe-shopping in Timber, then dress shopping in Deling City. Boutique after boutique they visited, Squall's yawns of disinterest growing with each step. He was amazed he hadn't fallen asleep as Rinoa had tried on many different clothes before him before leaving the shop empty handed – and heading straight for the train station a full hour before the train was scheduled to arrive.

He tried not to think about it. He knew why she did it. She was jealous of Zell and Angel. He had seen the look she had given him when they had announced the date, exactly five months after Squall and Rinoa had had their little 'talk' with Zell. Zell and Angel were to be wed…but no ring was on Rinoa's finger.

Squall's role as Commander of the Garden left him little time, each precious moment chewed up by paper-work and tests and classes, not to mention the missions. And as each week turned into a month, each time Rinoa had looked a little more crestfallen when Squall, sadly, said they would have to push it back a little further.

However, not all was lost. Squall allowed a small smirk to peek out as looked up at the train schedule, seeing that Zell's train was right on time.

"Wow, you must be in a good mood today, Squall!" Rinoa said as she jumped to her feet, having just given Angelo a scratch on his belly for being just the cutest thing this side of Timber! "Are you thinking of…wedding bells?"

Her quizzical face was returned with a blank stare. "…Whatever."

Pouting, Rinoa turned and squatted back down to Angelo, deciding to give her Knight the cold shoulder. How more obvious could she be?! She might as well draw all over the walls in order for him to read it.

But Squall was smirking again as she squatted down, the smile reappearing as soon as her back was turned. She had no idea…and it was always the best when she had no idea.

"Here it comes." Squall said to her, placing a hand on her shoulder as he spied the train coming in the distance.

Rinoa jumped to her feet again, brushing his hand off her shoulder apathetically…before grabbing it back as the locomotive began to pull into the station, Squall rolling his eyes as she began to sniffle, the tears already pricking up in her eyes…

…Before Squall dropped her hand, his scarred brow furrowing as he looked upon the spectacle before him. He had no words for the astonishment he felt at the moment, not that he would've spoken them anyways.

The locomotive looked fine – but there were only two cars left, the carriages looking like they had just been through a war zone. Bullet holes and scorch marks literally covered the car at the back, the end looking like someone had cast a Flare at it. The VIP car had shattered glass and bullet holes – but several people, males, seemed to be hanging from the windows, their bodies having been kicked half-though them. Squall thought he could even see someone lying on the roof of the car.

Wihtout a word he ran for the VIP car, Rinoa and Angelo close behind him, Rinoa's tears forgotten as she flanked Squall, racing for the door – to stop as it was opened to see Quistis, resplendent even in her ruffled condition. "Ah, you're here – we've been attacked." She said as soon as she saw Squall, stepping back to allow him and Rinoa entrance on board.

Squall took one look around – Irvine lying twitching on the floor in Selphie's arms, Dee and Angel standing beside them looking like they had fought for their lives, and the bodies strewn across the ground – and said two words. "…Damage report!"

"Irvine seems to have been struck down with some kind of seizure – we don't know what's causing it." Quistis said, moving with Squall to crouch down beside him, the blond woman having to push Angelo's snout out of her face as she spoke. "Zell was shot in the chest and thrown from a window back at Timber. The rest of us are a little shook up, understandably, but okay."

Squall stood immediately after looking over Irvine, noting he had no obvious wounds as he turned to Rinoa. "We'll need to call the Timber Owls to arrange a pick-up for Zell."

"I'm on it, chief!" Rinoa replied with a perfect SeeD salute, running from the train with Angelo close on her heels.

The gunblader turned back to the others, looking to Angel. "I'm sorry, Angel, but we're going to have to postpone the wedding until we've sorted this all out."

Selphie looked up at Squall as if he had just told Angel to stand on her head and spin around. Tears were in her eyes, and she was sniffling as she spoke. "Of course she will, Squall! What about Irvine?!"

Squall blinked, looking down to Irvine. "Er, right…we'll need to get him to a hospital. Quistis, find the SeeD phone and see if you cant…" He paused momentarily. "…Call a doorknob to gherkin him up."

He looked at the girls around him. They were all staring at him, Dee and Angel looking slightly confused, Quistis looking worried, Selphie looking like she was about to have a mental breakdown. "…What? Now, dammit, he's bouncing!" Squall barked, squinting with pain as a sound much like boiling water suddenly began to sound in his ears.

"Squall…are you okay?" Quistis asked, moving to his side to place a hand on his arm.

"…I…I don't know…" He replied, blinking hard as he thought back to what he'd just said.

"Mother…why is he sweating?" Squall heard Dee whisper to Angel. This made Squall's brow furrow even more, as he lifted his hand to wipe the beads of sweat from his forehead.

Squall never sweated. Even in the hottest days, he still dressed in the puffy-white collared coat he always wore. It was a part of his cool demeanour. Quistis and Selphie had only ever seen him sweat during intense combat.

Right now he was sweating bullets, the droplets carving themselves down his face, running down the crevice of his scar across his nose.

"I'll…I'll go call an ambulance…" Quistis said hesitantly, moving away from Squall before turning to go…

"Wait…" Squall gasped, falling back into a seat, Dee rushing to his side instantly to stop him from hurting himself. "No…no doorknobs…no doorknobs, Garden…get us to Garden…"

"Garden?!" Was Quistis' confused reply – before Squall passed out in Dee's arms, the teenager crying out in fear as he began to convulse, foam beginning to form on his lips.

"Squall! Quistis, what do we do?!" Selphie cried, tears running down her cheeks as she watched the only indefatigable man she knew collapse for no reason whatsoever.

Quistis didn't seem to hear. She could only stare down at Squall, shivering in Dee's arms, her blue eyes wide, frozen in uncertainty…

"Guys, Zone says he's been looking since he got reports of gunfire, and he can't find anybody anywhe…" Rinoa said hurriedly as she bounded back aboard the train – before gasping as she saw Squall twitching in Dee's grasp. She ran to him immediately, falling to his side and ripping him from Dee's hands. "What's happening to him?!" She shouted to no-one.

"We...we don't know…" Quistis haltingly replied – before everybody paused, hearing Angelo barking outside.

Dee and Angel ran to the window, looking down at Angelo as he barked up at them. He was surrounded by curious onlookers, Galbadians who had never seen a train arrive in such a grisly condition. "What is it boy?!" Dee called from a broken window, leaning over a dead body in order to call out to the dog.

Angelo simply barked again, spinning around and pawing at the wall of the train, near the stairs.

Looking back to the others, Dee watched as Rinoa hooked her Knight's arm over her shoulder and, with great effort, pulled him up. "We need to get him to a hospital…" She whispered, her face white as a sheet as her arms and legs quivered, trying to bodily hold his weight…

…Before Quistis was at her side, hooking Squall's arm over her shoulder too. "…Garden. We need to take him to Balamb Garden. It's outside the city limits, stationed next to Galbadia Garden."

Finally, they were moving. Selphie finally stood, trying to pull Irvine up as well and failing, falling to the fall with a cry of pain, tears welling in her eyes. Like the rest of them, she didn't have her magic junctioned – she was simply a small-framed girl, helpless in this situation.

Angel and Dee helped her, however. Moving to Irvine's sides, the stronger martial artists took Irvine's weight in stride, lifting him up on their shoulders like Quistis and Rinoa had, steadily walking to the doorway right behind them, Selphie close on their heels.

Stepping out of the train, Quistis looked at the gaping onlookers with anger. "We need a car! Somebody lend us their car!!" She shouted to the growing group of bystanders…before frowning as one of them pointed up to the roof of the train.

Selphie jumped out of the doorway, slipping past the girls and their cargo, running down the platform to pause, turning back. "C'mon, c'mon, hurry…" She shouted…before her voice grew silent, her mouth open as she saw what was on the top of the train.

Zell lay on the roof with one arm hanging limply from the edge, his other hand wedged firmly in the vent, his fingers hanging from his hand by only mere strands of muscle. Angelo scratched and whined beneath him, trying desperately to gather someone's attention to him.

Angel's screams made him flinch and run.

* * *

The cars they had commandeered screamed in protest as they drove out of Deling Station parking lot, Quistis driving a Barrett Neo Grappler, the BNG roaring like thunder as it's massive engine span the wheels on the tarmac. The off-road vehicle had been given to them by the cowboy who had helped Dee pull Zell from the roof of the train, a retired soldier who lived in Dollet to fish. Rinoa sat in the back, Squall's sweating and trembling body in her arms, whilst Selphie sat in the back-passenger seats with Irvine. Angelo sat in the front passenger seat, looking out the window in amazement as everything sped past.

Behind them came Dee, in a souped up Rikku ABX-2, the pistons pumping from the bonnet of the car as it sped after Quistis. Dee hadn't driven much in her time on Gaia, but seeing as how Angel couldn't leave Zell's side, she figured it was the best to give it a try.

Quistis tried to weave through the roads of the city, honking her horn and flashing her lights, screaming abuse at people who got in her way. She mounted curbs and flew over walk-paths, almost running some people and even knocking a few to the ground…but it was what she saw as she drove that really began to chill her blood cold.

In her rear vision mirror, she saw Dee fighting with the angry motor-car, trying not to copy the four-wheel drive's antics as much as she could – but Quistis could also see that more people were falling down and _not getting up_.

An old man collapsed as Quistis flew past, shaking and foaming. As they turned one corner, Quistis could see several men in her mirrors, all on the ground and trembling, the white of their mouths the last thing Quistis saw before they vanished from view.

_Whatever it is, it's spreading…_ She thought in horror, before slamming the vehicle up another gear and driving straight through a busy café, Dee swerving erratically around it.

_Now I can see them falling before we even see them…_ She thought as she saw several men fall at once, their respective partners falling to their sides, shaking them and trying to make them stand.

She tried to focus on driving, trying not to hear the sobs of the women in the back seats, and to keep her own tears back.

* * *

Thanks to the complete ignorance of the road rules or personal safety, Quistis and Dee made it to Balamb Garden in no time, Quistis slamming the breaks on as she reached the gates – before Dee slammed into the back of her, the back windows shattering causing Rinoa to scream out in fear.

"Sorry!" Dee called as she jumped from the car and tried to help her mother pull her father out.

Slamming the door behind her, Quistis moved to the passenger side – before looking over the car to see several SeeD students, all carrying stretchers, running towards the car. Two figures ran with them – one blond with a scar on his face, dressed in a long white coat with red crosses on the sleeves and back - the other with white hair and an eye-patch, dressed in a blue coat with black slacks and a shoulder-guard.

Seifer and Fujin.

"Get them contained and into the infirmary right now!!" Seifer screamed at the SeeDs as they swarmed around the cars, taking the men from the girls to lay them down on the stretchers – and zip them up in massive yellow bags, hooking up boxes with hoses leading to the mouths of them as they did. It almost looked like they were being placed in body-bags…

"What are you doing?!" Rinoa screamed to Seifer, running to Squall's aid as he was placed in one of the yellow bags – only to be pushed away by Fujin.

"Dangerous." The cold woman stated. "Desist." She continued, swiping her hand away across her body as if to say _back away._

"…Seifer…" Quistis said emotionally, wanting to hold him, rushing to meet him – before he placed a hand on her shoulder, keeping her at arms length.

"Save it. I need to take you to Cid, _now._" He said harshly, before turning and beginning to run alongside the SeeDs carrying Irvine, Zell and Squall.

"I want to go with Squall!" Rinoa protested, Angel and Selphie also piping up…

…Before Seifer stopped suddenly, screaming at the top of his lungs. "_SAVE IT! CID! NOW!!"_

The girls had no choice but to follow, Rinoa fuming at Fujin and Seifer, Dee following close behind Angel, Selphie trying to keep up, and Quistis trying to hold back the tears…

* * *

As they entered the Garden, they could see chaos unfolding. Men of all ages were lying in the niches within the aisles, sweating and trembling, girls and women running back and forth with cold bandages and buckets of water. Quistis couldn't believe what she saw. _An epidemic?!_ Her mind yelled at her as she watched one of the stretcher bearers carrying Irvine stumble before collapsing, Fujin running to pick up his rail before the entire stretcher fell to the ground.

"KADOWAKI! WE HAVE ANOTHER ONE DOWN!!" Seifer bellowed over the water-fountain in the centre of the Garden.

"When did this start happening?! Quistis asked hurriedly, running to catch up with Seifer as he dodged a student with a pail of water, the student running to the water feature to scoop water from the basin.

"About two or three hours ago! They just started convulsing out of the blue! The youngest were the first to go, then some of the elder students began to be affected as well!" Seifer replied as they neared the elevator, stabbing the call button with his knuckle before turning to look down at Quistis and the rest of the girls. A small sheen of sweat covered his face, Quistis reaching out with her sleeve to dab it away. Seifer didn't stop her. "All male, all very quick, all without any warning."

The elevator finally showed, revealing a very flustered Xu. "Glad you finally got here, guys." She said as they all clambered aboard. "It's been crazy the last few hours."

The girls only looked at her as if to say _don't tell me about crazy_, and Xu simply stepped back, allowing the elevator to rise up to Cid's office.

* * *

When they got to the top of the elevator ride, they all blinked at what they saw.

Cid was sitting behind his desk as usual – but he was blocked from vision by a man with a gun strapped to the side of a beaten old backpack, both hands placed firmly down on the desk, both feet spread, as if he had just said something powerful.

"We're do everything we can, Barque. Thank you for the warning."

"Just thank the gods you finally took my advice." The man muttered in his deep, gravely voice, pulling himself up to his full height. "Now you just might have the time to do something about it."

He turned then, revealing himself to the girls as they approached Cid's desk. The man was a few inches under 6 feet, wearing a dark leather coat and a pair of jeans. He had red sneakers on his feet. His face was weathered, wrinkles on his temples – he looked in his late fifties to early sixties. His hair was bright silver and still fairly full - he hadn't bothered to crop it either. A black eye patch covered his right eye, but this wasn't what people were looking at. Even Seifer couldn't help but stare…

…At the very familiar looking tattoo stabbing it's way down the left side of his face, framing his eye, which darted across the group of women as they passed him. Angel turned her head to watch him go, the man doing the same, staring at her as he entered the elevator with Xu, before he disappeared from view.

"Who was that, Angel? You looked like you knew him…" Selphie asked, her curiosity overcoming her anguish for a moment.

"I…I cant remember." Angel whispered back, frowning as she racked her memory. "…I think he was an instructor here years ago, but I'm not sure…"

"Ladies. And gentleman." Cid suddenly cried, standing from his chair to walk around to Angel, taking her hands up and squeezing them tightly. "My dear, I am so sorry for you. I am sorry for all of you. This is a very trying time for all of us."

Angel liked Headmaster Cid. He reminded her of a big cuddly teddy-bear, or your favourite uncle that always visits and you play with him all the time. She brushed the tears from her eyes as she replied. "I think I can speak for all of us when I say…we're surviving." She said, her voice only wavering slightly.

"Ah yes. Survival. That is the key at the moment, isn't it?" Cid replied cryptically, taking his hands away to grasp them behind his back. "Seifer, do you have the reports back yet?"

"Nothing in Trabia just yet, sir, but we've got lots of reports coming in from Deling, Dollet, Winhill, and now Timber. Only one man down in FH so far, but I'm not holding my breath. It's spreading quicker in the hotter climates…" Seifer paused, clearing his throat and unbuttoning one button of his shirt, allowing the sweat on his brow to trickle down the opening. Quistis' look of concern grew deeper as he cleared his throat, his voice wavering slightly. "…but I think it'll hit Trabia and the other settlements up north fairly soon. There's no word on Esthar, or Ellone."

Cid walked back around his desk to sit down heavily in his chair, taking a handkerchief from a drawer to dab at his own forehead. "…And the details?"

The women were already horrified at the sounds of things – but Dee's hands shot up to her mouth, covering it in sheer terror as Seifer continued, clenching his jaw as he spoke. "...Affected are all males, so far between the ages of five to eighty-five."

"_Freedom_…" Dee breathed into her hands, Cid looking at her pointedly but waving his hand at Seifer for him to continue.

"…Symptoms range from seizures, foaming from the mouth…rapidly increasing bodily heat…loss of short-term memory, inability to speak or form sentences, complete shut-down of motor function, shut-down of the heart, and death."

"Death?!" Rinoa repeated, looking from Cid to Seifer with wide eyes.

"Only in the extremes, my dear. The old folk have been dropping off the perch rather early, I'm afraid. Unable to cope with the symptoms, you see…" He looked to Dee, however, as he spoke next. "…Anything you wish to add, my dear?"

Everybody turned to Dee, who suddenly wished to be invisible, or at least not in the room anymore. Angel's arm, which had been placed around her shoulder, gripped it tighter, giving her support as she spoke quietly, hesitantly. "…Freedom…it was the virus that….that wiped out all the males on my home world…"

"And it seems it has followed you here." Cid stated, lifting up some files that he had on his desk, lifting his reading glasses to his nose as he read out the contents of the papers. "This is from Squall's debriefing, done after your return from the Heart Universe…'Freedom is a virus that, according to the Immortal leader Aries and all the subsequent files they allowed us access to, destroyed all male humanoids on the planet. Cause, unknown. Some reports of instantaneous disposal in a sudden flash of light, others by a slow melting process that reduced the victim to dust. Studies on all male team members, conducted by our medical professional and the Immortal professionals, have failed to find any trace of the virus within our systems, leading me to believe that it has been dead for many, many years of having no hosts.'"

Cid looked at Dee from over his glasses, lowering them slightly down the bridge of his nose. "Is this correct?"

"Yes…" The girl replied hesitantly. "…but this cant be Freedom. The symptoms are all different."

"For the moment, we have no choice but to assume that it's this virus Freedom." Cid replied quickly, placing the papers down and taking his glasses off, letting them rest on their chain around his neck as he leant back in his chair. "Squall, Zell, Rinoa and Dee have all been exposed to it. We have you here now, so you can get checked out immediately to see if you are carriers…but we also have other people to find. What are their names again…?"

"Julius and Veronica." Rinoa and Seifer said together, the man and woman shooting a look at each other.

"Mmm. After you five have been checked out within the infirmary, we will need you to track down Julius and Veronica. Anybody who has had extended exposure to the Immortal world must be cleaned and examined thoroughly before we can proceed with any type of resolution."

"Sir!" Quistis, Angel and Selphie all saluted at the same time. Rinoa and Dee tried for the salute as well, Rinoa managing to pull it off. Dee used the wrong arm, hurriedly correcting it when she spied the others doing it right from the corner of her eye.

"You are all dismissed. Go and get checked, quickly. We don't want you getting sick either." Cid said, watching the SeeDs turn as a group – before calling out again. "Oh, and Seifer."

Seifer paused, turning back to Cid staunchly, his body quivering with the effort of standing to attention, sweat pouring off him to drench his coat and shirt. He snapped to attention anyways, performing a crisp SeeD salute. "Sir!"

"…You are also dismissed, Seifer."

"Thank you, sir…" Seifer said wearily – before falling straight back to the ground, landing with a thud, passed out from the heat coursing through his body.

Cid, watching the girls converge around Seifer with a sigh, pressed his index finger gently to the intercom to the desk below. "Xu, could you please bring that stretcher you've reserved for Seifer now, please…"

* * *

_Sure hope you're enjoying it so far. By the way, I don't know if you've noticed, but I've been dropping the names of a few characters from other FF games in as machine names, car names, weapons, so forth. See if you can find them. Some of them are a little tricky…_


	3. Silver Extremity

Chapter 3 – Silver Extremity

Rinoa sighed as Dr. Kadowaki pressed a needle into her arm, watching as the blood filled the capsule on the end. The Sorceress was used to having tests done on her – SeeD, Esthar, Galbadia – they all wanted bits and pieces, blood and urine, spinal fluid, feathers…

She was lucky Squall was her Knight. He was always by her side, always keeping her safe. He determined what was understandable and what was…improper. Dr. Odine, for example, seemed to have it in his head that Rinoa would reproduce differently then Gaian's. Disgusting old man…

The old woman pulled the syringe out of Rinoa's inner elbow and placed a small dab of salve on the prick of blood forming on her skin. Made from the essence of the recreative elements of Potions, the salve would heal the tiny puncture within seconds. "Okay Rinoa, you can go see Squall now. Could you please send Quistis over when you do?"

"Yes ma'am." Rinoa replied quietly, hopping off the bench she had sat on and pulling on her blue cardigan, her face tense as her hands popped out of the sleeves.

Kadowaki watched the woman leave her side silently, walking down to the end of the infirmary to sit next to Squall's supine form. She knew that she was worried about Squall…but then, what could they do? Kadowaki was not one to give false hope – and at the moment, they didn't know what was specifically wrong with the men. Only that keeping them cool stopped their seizures, and hooking them up to slow-drip Potions stopped their foaming. Each and every man was still in a coma, their brain-patterns all still, barely moving – almost like they had shut down completely…

Quistis looked up to Rinoa as she approached, watching the younger girl sit down quietly besides Squall. Quistis herself was seated next to Seifer, the blond man's face twisted in pain as she dabbed the sweat from his brow once more. "Quistis, its your turn…" Rinoa said as she looked down to Squall.

Quistis nodded as she stood, walking around Seifer's bed to walk past Squall's, placing a reassuring hand on Rinoa's shoulder as she walked past, Rinoa lifting her own hand to give Quistis' a gentle squeeze in return. Quistis slipped the hand from the young woman's shoulder as she walked down the infirmary, looking about her as she did. Every single bed was full of supine males, some beginning to quiver before a student replaced the ice-packs covering their bodies, the only sounds being the quiet interchange of statistics between students and the _drip drip drip_ of the IVs.

At the far end of the infirmary were the boys, and Quistis craned her head back to look down to them as she approached Dr. Kadowaki. They were still unconscious and unmoving – but were flanked by several SeeDs, the women poking and prodding them with instruments, taking fluids and readings and scans. Their respective couples were all there – Rinoa keeping a silent vigil next to Squall, eerily similar to his own quiet vigils… Selphie, clutching Irvine's hat in her hands as she stood by his bed, looking down at the red-headed gunslinger and trying to fight back the tears by biting her lip… and Angel, the fist-fighter looking like she had just gone fifteen rounds with Odin as she sat next to Zell, her hand on his heart, as if making sure it kept beating…

"Please take off your clothes, Quistis." Dr. Kadowaki said to the Instructor when she turned back around. "We need to perform a complete body scan to see if you have any foreign elements on or in your body that could be associated with this disease."

The blonde woman nodded curtly, instantly unbuttoning her coat and pulling off her formal tie as she spoke. "Do we have any idea on what this is, exactly?"

"Not yet." Was the curt, abrupt reply. "Just fold your clothes up and place them over there before stepping into the booth. I must check on your comrades quickly."

Quistis watched Kadowaki turn sharply and walk down the infirmary, tapping one of the women writing furiously on a clipboard to gather her attention.

Quistis felt a sting of embarrassment as she took off her bra and panties, folding them up and placing them neatly on her skirt and coat on the bench, making sure to keep her back to the majority of the people around her. The infirmary was normally an open area, and this kind of procedure was usually conducted behind a screen discreetly – not so today. Kadowaki either hadn't bothered to put the screen up or didn't have the time. Quistis knew that she was overreacting a little as she peeked around her, trying to see any spying eyes. All the eyes here were either closed and occupied with a seizure, or female – and occupied with the men having seizures.

Regardless, it would only take one Trepie Fan to spy her like this and chaos would erupt, even within the female population, and even within this crisis. _Oh sure, try to be a little more vain… _Quistis thought to herself as she opened the booth – to jump in fright, startled to see Dee already seated within!

"Hi!" The younger woman said with a smile, waving at Quistis from her seat within the booth, oblivious to her own nakedness as she looked Quistis up and down. "Wow, you really take care of yourself, huh?"

Quistis blinked incredulously, her hands and arms occupied with covering her dignity as opposed to Dee, whose hands were resting by her sides. "What are you doing in here?!" The older woman cried, her cheeks blushing crimson beneath her blonde bangs.

"Mr. Cid says that I should get checked more thoroughly then Rinoa," Dee said impassively with a small shrug. "Seeing as I was born on the Immortal world."

"Oh…" Quistis said in realisation, the information not really explaining why Dee was still in the booth.

"You'd better jump in quickly. Dr. Kadowaki yelled at Rinoa for taking her time. Don't worry, I don't care. Maybe I can help you out like I did Rinoa!"

Quistis turned her head, spying Kadowaki coming back down the infirmary briskly – before she slipped into the booth, shutting the door behind her to sit down on the cushioned seat besides Dee. The contraption was a new addition to the Gardens, fresh from the Estharian labs – it looked like an big cylindrical pod on the outside, hollow within with seats circling the walls within. Tiny sensors scanned your body the moment you sat down in the seats, the cushions taking sweat and skin samples as well as nerve and muscle reaction readings by sending tiny pricks and waves into the flesh. It did everything from x-rays to DNA samples.

Obviously it was not built with privacy in mind. As usual, the Estharian motive of efficiency meant the more occupants, the quicker the results on a broad spectrum.

Quistis' blush was growing crimson as she spied Dee looking her up and down again, causing her hands to dig deeper into her flesh, as if it was covering her further. The way she looked at her…it was almost…_analytical_. "Do you mind?! We have the concept of privacy on Gaia!" Quistis hissed.

"Oh, sorry!" Dee said with a laugh before slapping her hand onto her face, covering her eyes with her fingers. "Better?"

Quistis could only growl, trying not to look at the younger woman as Dr. Kadowaki's voice came through on the intercom. "_You two alright in there?"_

"Yes!" Dee said happily.

"No!" Quistis cried, sitting up in her seat.

"_I'm sorry Instructor, you'll just have to put up with it. We're in a crisis, and I cant pull Dee out until I've completed a thorough scan several times. You'll be out in a few minutes."_

Quistis could only scowl at the smooth metallic walls of the booth, the baby-blue tinge doing nothing to sooth her ego, before sitting back with a huff, pouting as she looked over to Dee, who looked stupid sitting naked with her hand over her eyes, her head cocked to see if Dr. Kadowaki had anything else to say, nibbling on her bottom lip in anticipation. "Oh, put your hand down for Hyne's sakes. It's just the two of us." Quistis said with disdain, keeping her hands on her private bits. "And cover yourself, for god's sakes…"

Dee did as she was told, taking her hand away to see what Quistis was doing with hers – before mimicking her. "I'm sorry, Quistis…" Dee said with a nervous chuckle. "…I can see why you have such a large following of fans, though…"

"Yes, well, everything you see in here will stay between us! Is that clear?!"

"Yes ma'am!" Dee replied, saluting crisply – before slapping her hand back over her chest with a short laugh, to which Quistis rolled her eyes and groaned.

The two women sat in silence for a few minutes as the machine hummed softly, quietly going about it's business. Quistis felt the slight tingle sensation of the seat on her bare flesh as it took her samples and noted with bemusement that it almost felt nice, like getting a massage but underneath the skin. She kept her eyes on the floor, inspecting Dee's feet, which were crossed lazily, her toes waggling slightly in a bored fashion. The younger girl's body was very toned, not a shred of fat on it. Quistis couldn't help but allow her eyes to stray upwards, seeing that Dee was staring off into space, her eyes focused on a spot on the wall as she crossed her legs and began to jiggle her feet, humming softly to herself.

She looked almost like an Centran warrior-woman of old. There was not one ounce of fat, barely a blemish on her skin, her hair soft and full. She obviously groomed herself, judging by the lack of hair anywhere else besides her head. The only note of damage were some small scars which were scattered around her chest and arms, old wounds from the battle on 'Planet Hell', as the younger SeeDs had come to call War-World where Heart Rinoa met her demise.

This made Quistis feel depressed. She looked down at her own body, her skin like alabaster, supple and clean even after the fighting on the train. Unlike Dee's soft flesh, however, Quistis' body was covered in fighting scars, ugly marks of war. Each scar filled her with melancholy – each mark made her ugly. Sure, she was considered one of the most beautiful in all of SeeD…perhaps even the most beautiful…but she still looked at each of the scars as a blemish on her skin.

It made her wonder why she had joined SeeD in the first place…so young she had been…and thanks to the GF's she had used over the years, she still couldn't remember the actual reason…

"…When did you get that one?" Dee suddenly remarked, watching Quistis absently finger a long, thin white line which traced over her thigh, her finger following the repaired skin gently.

Quistis smiled a small smile. Even though she despised being seen naked, Dee had, with that one question, made it…not matter. "…It had been in the Desert Prison. Zell had just come back with our weapons, but the magic dampeners were still active, so we proceeded cautiously out…but Zell, the blockhead, hadn't exactly been subtle with his escape, and some guards were waiting for us. The Galbadian Army trains their soldiers well."

"But you escaped, didn't you?" Dee asked, cocking her head slightly to one side as she asked the question.

"Of course." Was the curt reply. "We wouldn't be having this conversation if I hadn't, now would we?"

"Oh…yeah." Dee said, sniggering slightly at her own stupid question.

Quistis' small smile remained on her beautiful face. The girl was obviously as bored as she was, and wasn't gagging to check her out, which was a fair feat on it's own. "What do you do in your free time, Dee?" She asked, genuinely interested. This was the first time the two of them actually had some time together…Quistis was normally too busy to bother with the girl.

"Well, Ma was teaching me the Flowing Water technique the other day during class, and Daddy was showing me how to fix a motorbike down at the garage, and Grandma was showing me how to cook fish…" Dee began, rambling incessantly.

She told Quistis about how she had gone out by herself just last week, catching the train to FH and laughing at the people and their solar panels. The immortals had long ago learned how to harness the power of the cold fusion, using them to do everything from power cars to run industrial complexes. The mere idea of using sunlight to power a city was funny to Dee. "I mean, what if it rained?" She said with a chuckle. "The old man who ran the place was very upset with me, calling me a 'whipper schnapper' or something. I met one of Daddy's friends too – Grease Monkey! He showed me around his shop and all the stuff he made – did you know he has a backscratcher that makes toast? He was naughty though…his girlfriend didn't like him showing me around. She called him a dirty letch, whatever that is, and punched him. She had good form, but lacked power, so after I gave her a few pointers she really put some hurt into him!"

"You went out by yourself?" Quistis remarked. "I'm surprised you left Zell's side…or Zell let you go…"

"Oh, I told Daddy where I was going. He was fine with it. He's shown me around a few places…Dollet, Deling, places like that…it was very scary the first few months – I'd never seen so many men in one placed after the war - but it was easy after that."

"Why?"

"I just imagine them all with boobs. It makes things much simpler."

It was the matter-of-fact way that Dee said it that made Quistis laugh out loud. The entire booth seemed to rock as Quistis doubled over, shuddering as tears ran down her face.

"_Whats going on in there?!"_ Dr. Kadowaki called in over the intercom.

"N-n-nothing!" Quistis called back, fighting back the tears and laughter as she sat up again. "We're just talking."

"_Well try not to move so much!"_ The doctor barked back down into the booth.

"Oooh, she's really angry today…" Dee said quietly, looking up to see where the voice had come from before looking back to Quistis, shrugging. "I don't see why. This is all going to get sorted out, and then we will all get back to our lives."

Quistis chuckled, this time a little bitterly. "You say it like it happens every day…"

"Well, doesn't it?" Dee asked. "Daddy is always going off to fight someone, and sometimes he get shot or stabbed or burned or poisioned…I remember one time he came back without a foot! Well, carrying it. And look at your track record so far. I'd say everything will be alright…"

The instructor sighed sadly. "I'm afraid it's not as simple as that, my dear. We don't even know what it is that's doing this."

"Well, I know it's not Freedom, that's for sure." Dee muttered sullenly.

Quistis sat back in her chair, crossing her arms over her chest. "What makes you so sure?"

Dee lifted her hand to tap her temple. "History injections given to me when I was grown. I know all about Freedom and what it did to the men in our universe, and none of the symptoms match. Immortal men were disintegrated instantly, or melted away all over the world, without warning. The only thing this has in common with Freedom is that it targets males." She punched her fist into her palm to ram her words home. "_Not_ the same symptoms. _Not_ the same spread. _Not_ the same thing."

Quistis remained quiet. Dee spoke with absolute determination – in her eyes, there was _nothing_ in this that would make her believe that it was Freedom.

But…this was a different universe. Who knew what kind of quantum-physical changes might have occurred in order for the universe to understand, to comprehend, anything that comes through to their world?

It was all very confusing, even for Quistis, and she figured the last thing Dee wanted was a row over whether a crippling disease from her home-world was going to kill her adopted one.

* * *

Angel was wandering the corridors of the Garden, her face stony-cold. She couldn't believe this was happening, on her wedding day, of all days.

After she had been checked out by Dr. Kadowaki she had sat by Zell for a while, watching as her friends were all wreaked with pain – the men physically, and the women mentally. Eventually she could not take it anymore, standing quietly and leaving the room, then leaving the infirmary entirely.

Now she wandered the main corridor, watching the female students run about, tending to the sick boys. She tried not to sob as she watched a small boy tremble on a bench, his muscles twitching as his head flopped and jerked, the two girls tending to him having to place a blanket under his head to stop him from hurting himself before casting a block of ice onto his chest, one girl using the butt of her nun-chaku to smash it into pieces and spread the ice evenly over his body.

He couldn't be any more then seven.

She needed to escape the madness around her, and span on her heel to run down the nearest corridor, almost tripping over a foot sticking out from underneath a seat and bowling over a girl carrying a pail of water, the girl's angry bellows falling on deaf ears as Angel beat a hasty retreat.

Running down the hall she was on now, her hands blocking her ears to the angry yells behind her, her eyes pricked with tears, she came to a wide empty space, devoid of people or…the dying.

She stood for a moment, trying not to cry, her hands clamped down over her ears…before she began to weep, her body shuddering as she moved her hands down from her ears to her eyes, shaking with each sob…

"…Are you okay, my little weeping bride?"

Angel blinked, her face puffy and red with tears as she looked up…

…To see the silver-haired old man looking down to her over the Cafeteria counter, munching slowly on a hotdog. Angel could inspect him more thoroughly now, even through her tear-stained eyes – she could see that he was tanned, a single baby-blue eye looking down to her, and the silver hair on his head was joined by a straggly beard which covered his chin and under his nose. He looked concerned for the woman, his single eye looking down to her with sadness, and almost apologetically he pushed a plate full of hotdogs over to her on the counter.

Gingerly she stood on wobbly feet before taking one, still sniffling as she looked down at it, almost as if she had forgotten what it was and what she did with it. "..Bride?" She asked, her voice tiny like a child's.

The old man motioned with his own half-bitten dog, lifting it to his mouth and biting into it with one hand as he rotated his other, motioning for her to follow suit before pointing down to the destroyed wedding dress she was wearing. "Looks like you've had a rough morning…"

Cautiously she lifted her own and bit into just the end, getting mostly bun and a little sauce – before she began to cry again, tears rolling down her cheeks as she bit into her hotdog again, almost automatically, the brilliant taste dulled by her overwhelming sadness.

The old man smiled apologetically at her before gobbling his own hotdog down quickly, like he hadn't eaten in weeks. "Gods, these taste awesome…" He muttered, his voice like a tire rolling down a gravel road – crinkly like aluminium foil. "…I never get them when I come here...I always _just_ miss out…"

"Who are you?!" Angel said abruptly, slamming her nibbled hotdog down on the counter, the sausage within flying out in a squirt of tomato and mustard sauce to splat into the wall behind him, the old man deftly leaning to the right, dodging the sausage with skill, watching it fly over his ear with a wide eye before looking back at the crying woman. "I'm sorry, but who the heck are you?!" Angel replied to the eye.

The old man stood up straight, clearing his throat as he wiped flecks of sauce off his jacket and sucking them off his fingers. He looked sad – almost infinitely so. "You really don't remember me? Boy, those GF's really mess with your mind…"

Angel was just sobbing now, the hotdog forgotten, her face in her hands.

The old man sighed, scratching his beard for a moment, before slipping over the counter to land beside her, placing his arm around her shoulder, the woman leaning into him, his grip feeling familiar and warm. "C'mon, we'll sit you down and get some food into you…you'll feel better after that."

Angel allowed herself to be sat down in a chair at a table before having a fresh hotdog being shoved into her hand. The old man patted her cheek, wiping the tears from her face gently, before sitting down besides her, taking up his own hotdog. "…My name's Barque. I was your very first martial arts instructor."

Angel squinted, her eyes red-rimmed from the tears, her hands clutching the hotdog like a life-line. "…I'm sorry, but…"

"I taught you all you know about fighting."

"…No..."

"I showed you around the library on your first day. I helped you with your homework. You were one of the best damned students I had!"

Angel shook her head, forcing a small apologetic smile through her tears. "I'm sorry…"

"No…no, it's okay…" Barque grumbled, biting into a hotdog and ripping it in half with his teeth in irritation, chewing it aggressively before swallowing. "…It's happening more and more these days. The cost for power."

The weeping bride looked him up and down, something suddenly hitting her. "You…you're not sick."

"Nope." The old man replied with a wickedly cheeky grin, as if he was in on the biggest joke in the world. "How about that, huh? My back has been killing me for years, arthritis in my knuckles…but one damned virus cant put me down." He chuckled coldly. "It seems the universe has got more in store for me to put me down too soon."

"…What do you mean?" Angel asked, wiping the tears off her face before standing. "We…we need to get you to the infirmary, get you checked out…"

"Sit down, sit down girl! I'm fine, Doctor Kadowaki has already checked me out, there's nothing wrong with me…" Barque grumbled, pointing to Angel's discarded hotdog. "C'mon now, eat up! It might be the last time you get to have a quiet meal for a long time."

Angel plonked herself back down into her seat, looking down at the hotdog. "I…I don't know…if I can eat at a time like this…"

Barque sighed irritably as he picked up another for him off the plate. "I understand sweetheart. You've been through so much today, but you must keep your strength up, so eat! It'll make you feel better, I promise."

Lifting the hotdog to her lips, she paused momentarily. She wondered if this made her a bad person, enjoying food at a time like this…before, steeling herself, she took a bite, confidently chewing it, before swallowing it down, shuddering slightly at the joyous sensation it sent through her.

"Aha. And what finally broke you?" Barque asked with a grin.

"…You're right. There is work to be done. A-and I have no time to feel sorry for myself. Plus…Zell would want me to keep going. For everyone…not just for him."

Barque's grin grew wider. "Aha! A very noble man, this Zell…"

Angel nodded, biting into her hotdog again – the old man was right, it _was_ making her feel better – and pointed to his tattoo. "You've got his tattoo…I've never seen anybody else with it before…"

"That's coz he copied me!" Barque barked, waving his hands in the air, sauce from his hotdog flying to splatter along the floor.

"Copied you?" Angel echoed, frowning.

"Yeah! I used to train him when he was younger, and a little during his time at SeeD. One day he went to Galbadia on an excursion, the next thing time I see him he's got this on his face! And I thought I was the only one foolish enough…"

The woman giggled a little. The old man was beginning to make her feel a lot better. She felt safe with him, like she'd known him her whole life – which, according to him, she had. She had to admit, the GF's did tend to mess with your memories – it wasn't difficult to consider that she had forgotten him because of them. She felt better because of it anyways – there was no way she could've forgotten such an individual.

She was still laughing at a face he pulled when he bit into a hotdog to find he hadn't cooked the sausage enough when she spied Selphie walking into the cafeteria, the girl looking about like she had lost something. "Selphie!" Angel called, waving for the bubbly girl, who spotted them instantly in the dining area and ran up to them.

As Selphie approached them, her breathlessness gave way to a wary look. "Hey, what's going on?" She asked, frowning down at them.

"Selphie! You remember me, don't you? Instructor Barque?" The old man said, looking up to the girl who was regarding the two of them a little quizzically. "…What's wrong?"

"What's wrong?!" Selphie cried angrily. "All our boyfriends are down and out, possibly dying, and you're in here laughing and having fun! And no, I don't remember you, how could I possibly remember anything at a time like this?!"

"He was just trying to help me, Selphie…I'm sorry…" Angel said soothingly, standing to place her hands on Selphie's shoulders to squeeze them.

Selphie was panting, looking up at Angel as if to say _how dare you have fun at a time like this_ with her eyes. The girl was obviously very fragile, even though she had, before, remained stoic and vigilant besides Irvine's bed.

"I'm sorry Selphie…" Angel whispered to her friend, tears welling in her own eyes.

"Selphie…" Barque called from behind her, causing the girl to level her steely gaze towards him, making him blanch and gulp as he held out the item he had gotten up to get. "…I…I got you this…"

She looked down at the offering – a banana and strawberry smooth-whip from the cafeteria's drink machine. Normally they were sold out by the time she got to the cafeteria. Taking the drink from the old man, eyeing him curiously, she tipped the contents down her throat, the two people watching her widening their eyes as she gulped and gulped and gulped…

…Before dropping the cup with a long, drawn-out breath, the paper cup rattling as it hit the floor.

The young girl blinked a few times before looking up to Angel. Gone was the anger, the offering sating the beast. "…That was just what I needed." She said to her friend with a small smile, before grabbing her and hugging her tightly, whispering apologies into her ear as she tried not to cry.

Angel whispered soothing tones back into Selphie's, letting her know that it was alright and that they were all tense and that it would be alright soon before they released one another. Selphie wiped a tear from her face and beamed a smile up at Angel, composed now. "Well, now that's out of the way…we've got confirmation on Julius and Veronica's location. We have a SeeD deployment ship just outside Deling, so…"

"Wait…Julius?" Barque said suddenly, frowning down to Selphie and Angel. "…Why are you looking for them?"

"Because they were one of the first people to explore all the different universes…because they came back and nobody has heard of them since then…who are you anyways?" Selphie said, her cute little brow crinkling as she looked up at the older man. "You smell like my grandpa!"

"Hmph…" Barque grunted, muttering to himself as if surprised by this revelation.

"What?" Angel asked. "What do you know about all this?"

Barque paused, clearing his throat, looking like the cat that had been caught with the canary. "Well, erm…you see, the thing is…"

"Selphie?! Have you found…oh, there you two are!" Dee called, running into the cafeteria as she pulled on her jacket. She was dressed in a pair of tight jeans and a black shirt, one of Irvine's cowboy belt-buckles prominent on her belt. She had her combat boots and fighting gloves on, the adamantine on Zell's old and refined Ehrgiez gauntlets shining under the stark lights. "C'mon., we gotta get a move on! We gotta get you two done up in your civvies and out to the ship, we gotta move, time's a-wastin'!"

"Ah, but, we, um…" Angel stammered, looking back to Barque as Dee grabbed both Selphie and her by the arms and began to drag them towards the exit.

Barque stood in the white brilliance of the fluorescent lighting, pulling his silver mane up and into an untidy ponytail as he watched them move with his one good eye, the baby-blue affixed on Angel as she was dragged unceremoniously to the exit. "Go, Angel…go to save the world…again." He muttered to himself.

* * *

Each of the women were quiet as they exited the ship, stepping out into the brisk Trabian cold, the snow crunching under their boots and fog curling from their lips as they looked about themselves. The waves of the sea lapped onto the shore behind them, pieces of frozen seawater washing up to the shore along with seafoam.

Their ship had deployed only three hours ago, with all of them dressed and prepped for anything. Selphie took the lead, her yellow dress traded in for a yellow bodysuit with black stripes up either side, her nun-chaku's chains tinkling as she held them in her hands, spinning them around and around like a fan. "Its been so long, Trabia…" She whispered, looking out to the frozen desert before her. "…I've missed you."

"Gods, how can you just stand there like that in that little thing?" Dee whined, stamping her feet and stuffing her gauntleted hands under her armpits, as if it would help to heat them up. The Immortal was used to a perfect climate, 25C perfectly – which, thankfully, was what Balamb was all year round. Even in the wet season.

"You grow up in this place and you get used to a little cold." Selphie beamed back to Dee, as if her cheery demeanour would warm her up. "This is nothing! You should see what happens when a blizzard blows around!"

Dee looked over to Quistis as she stepped out of the ship herself, the older woman reaffirming her Save The Queen whip was firmly affixed by her side. She was dressed in a pair of black thermal leggings, an orange parker covering her body, thin gloves affixed to her hands. Her spectacles had been replaced with small shades, to countenance the glare from the sun on the snow. "I thought a blizzard was some kinda magic…" The younger girl said to Quistis, who chuckled slightly.

"It's another word for snow-storm. Don't worry, we won't get one around here – although we might run into the typical run-of-the-mill monster or two out here, so keep on your toes."

"Monsters?" Dee asked, looking over to Rinoa and Angel as they stepped off the ship. Rinoa instantly moving over to Dee to cuddle up against her, her blue cardigan wrapped tightly around her slim body as she pressed close to the teenager, trying to share their warmth. "What kind of monsters?"

"Snow lions…although they normally stick to the forests…there's sometimes packs of Gaylas, but they're fairly timid…" Angel said quietly, shouldering a small backpack before clipping her coat closed. She wore a pair of yellow snow-pants and combat boots, her leather coat with it's fluffy collar shutting out the majority of the cold. Her hands were covered in her own gloves, thick leather covering her knuckles. The fingers were left open, however, and she stuffed her hands into her coat pockets to make sure they were warm.

"We'll make short work of them if we run across any. But we need to stay on point – where is this village, Selphie?" Quistis asked the smaller girl, turning to her as she spoke, as if dismissing the others.

"This way! Follow me!!" Selphie cried, breaking out in a short jog, running up the shore to the snow-covered dunes before beginning to follow the coastline to the east.

"Oh gods, how far is it?" Dee cried, watching the others walk past her, Rinoa transferring herself to Angel as she passed, leaving Dee shivering alone next to the ship, the sound of the sea lapping at the shores the only thing keeping her company – before she broke out into a run. "Hey, wait for me!" She wailed.

Nobody spied the shadowy figure leaping from the back of the boat to the snow-covered shoreline, crouching low and watching the women disappear over the ridge…

* * *

It wasn't a long walk along the shore. Their destination was a small fishing village a half-day's drive from the Trabia Garden's ruins, but they had only come ashore a few hundred meters away. Dee had caught up to the others quickly, and the group briskly made their way towards the village.

Smoke curled up from the chimneys atop old clay buildings, junk scattered across the snow-covered plain before the main gates. Large wooden walls stood erect around the village, a vigilant attempt to stop the monsters rummaging through the occupant's trash or, at worse, taking one of the elderly during their morning sabbaticals through the streets. The buildings were like little domes, tiny bulges in the frozen ground surrounded by cars and bicycles and rubbish bins. The interiors betraying the exteriors – each one was sunken into the ground, a little underground enclave that used the sunken design to trap the warmth within the dome.

Selphie walked up to the gates and gave the left one a push, putting all of her tiny frame against it – and being rewarded with a creak and movement, a dollep of snow falling from the top of the gate to thump onto her head, causing her to shriek with surprise and the rest of the group to chuckle to themselves.

"The hunters must be in today." She said, deftly brushing the snow from her brown bangs. "They would've locked the gate otherwise. News spreads fast now the Estharians stopped blocking all the radio waves."

"Huh?" Dee grunted to Quistis walked past her.

"It's a long story." Quistis said, looking back to the girl with a smirk. "When all this is sorted out, I'm going to have to grill you on the history of Gaia again. Not so easy without a memory implant, is it?"

Dee pouted and shoved her hands into her pockets. She'd received all her teachings from injections into the body, nano-machines giving her all the history, mathematics and grammar training before she had even been let out of her pod, back on the Immortal world. She had soon realised on Gaia, however, that learning itself was a lot harder. This universe had so much culture and history, so much diversity, that after a few months Dee had simply given up on trying to figure it all out and kept to Balamb. It was a lot like her home-world. Things were simple and straight-forward. It was warm. The people were nice.

"How did we come to know where Julius and Veronica were, anyways?" Rinoa asked suddenly, forcing her teeth to stop chattering for a few moments and, holding her hands out before her, casting a small Fire in between them, holding it close to her chest enough to keep warm. "I thought Julius was done with SeeD."

"He is, sort of." Quistis replied as they walked down the center of the village, Selphie scampering across the road again and again, wiping the snow off the label to see what the address was on the dome and muttering to herself at her constant failure to find the right one. "After the War, he took Veronica and simply vanished…" She frowned slightly. "It's actually a good question, though I suppose we don't have time to worry about it right now. It's the only lead we have going at the moment…"

"Where did the info come from?" Dee asked Rinoa, approaching her to hold her own hands out to the ball of flickering flame.

"I don't know…the SeeD who told me just gave me the location and that Cid had approved us to leave Garden and find them."

"That's strange…" Angel whispered, almost to herself as she watched Selphie jump to her feet after studying a label very, very hard, making sure to double-check it again.

"It's this one!!" She called, leaping in the air with excitement, before hopping to one side and stamping her foot down into the snow just on the edge of the dome.

Somewhere beneath the bulge in the snow, something buzzed.

Selphie frowned, waiting only a moment before stamping her foot down on the pressure-pad again, her only reward being a buzzing noise. "Their doorbell works! Why wont they answer?!" She cried, the rest of the group gathering around her as she began to jump up and down on the button, the bulge buzz-buzz-buzzing with each landing.

_Bzzt! Bzzt! Bzzt!_

"Maybe they aren't home?" Angel asked.

_Bzzt! Bzzt! Bzzt!_

"There's fresh snow all around the dome and it's not snowing." Quistis replied. "There would be tracks leading out of the door if they had left recently."

_Bzzt! Bzzt! Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzt! _"C'mon dammit!" Selphie yelled, resting all of her tiny weight onto the buzzer.

"…This is the Dome of Garnet and Zidane Tribal. Selphie!!" Rinoa cried, leaping up from her crouch before the label to whap Selphie on the head. "It's the wrong place!"

"Owww! That's their cover-names, feather-head!" Selphie cried back, rubbing her head as she stepped off the buzzer.

"Oh…I knew that." Rinoa replied quickly, before rubbing her chin thoughtfully – and stamping her foot down, kicking the door in!!

"R-Rinoa!?" Angel cried out. "Wh-what are you…"

"Well, they're not answering the door and there's no tracks outside. Which means they're still inside somewhere. And we're not getting anywhere freezing our asses off outside waiting for them to not answer." Rinoa said, placing her hands on her hips and scowling at her fellow Sorceress. "C'mon, I'm a freedom fighter, I know when someone's holed up and don't wanna be bothered! Lets get inside and check for clues already!"

Then she turned and walked down the steps into the dome, Selphie close at her heels like an excited puppy. Quistis simply shrugged at Angel and followed the other two, Angel hesitating for a moment – before Dee grabbed her hand. "C'mon mum c'mon!" The teen said excitedly, squeezing her hand before disappearing down the hole herself.

Angel sighed. "I'm getting a bad feeling about this…" She whispered to herself, looking about her at the village as a whole –

And blinking as something moved behind a dome a few domes down the road.

She frowned, turning fully to look down the road. "…What was…" She asked, before Dee called out again, causing her to back up to the hole – and quickly descend down into the dome.

* * *

Within the dome, beneath the snow, the four women stood within the foyer. It was much like an apartment in Balamb – a small foyer was the first area you stepped into, a small box for snow-clad boots at one side of the steps for the boots to be dumped into and defrosted. To the left was a kitchen with a small electric oven, to the right was the living area, a round room with a television and a couch. Directly in front of the steps leading into the dome was another set of steps leading further down – these led to the bedrooms and bathroom.

"How could anybody live like this?" Dee asked herself quietly, looking about herself in wonder, up at the lights embedded in the ceiling glowing brightly down to her, the frost in the corners of the floor and ceiling. "Buried under the earth, away from the sun…"

"Its what we do. It's their only way to keep warm when we aren't on the move. Houses on the surface would only freeze." Selphie replied. It wasn't uncommon for people to question her people's ways. Trabians were a unique bunch.

"I don't know if I could handle this every day…" Dee said, looking down at a telephone on a small table next to the entrance to the kitchen. "…I don't think anybody had been here in a while. The phone is just coated in dust."

"Not everybody can or do talk as much as you and Selphie." Quistis muttered as she walked out of the kitchen. "…Although I'm forced to agree. Their fridge has food in it, but it's out-of-date for at least several months. And there is the thick layers of dust everywhere. I think Cid's information is wrong."

Angel and Rinoa had walked into the living room, looking around at the room. Walking over to the fireplace, Angel sighed sadly as she looked at the top of the dust-laden hearth. "No photos…no nick-knacks…there's nothing here. No evidence of anything being here, either."

Rinoa nodded quietly, running her hand over the edge of the arm of the couch, looking down at the dust that was collected on her palm and fingers, before walking over to the fireplace next to Angel, crouching down before it to gently nudge the burnt-out wood within the fire pit.

"Nobody in the bedroom or bathroom!" Selphie cried as she bound back up the stairs, startling Dee for a moment as the yellow-jumpsuit clad woman furtively ruffled the dust out of her hair . "This place is totally deserted!"

Selphie and Quistis looked at each other as Dee examined the phone again. The look they shared was one of muted desperation – beneath Quistis' in-control demeanour and Selphie's excited prancing about, was a growing sense of despair. This was the only lead they had so far – and time was running out. They didn't have the time for a man-hunt – the boys might not last that long.

"Are you two okay?" Rinoa asked them as Angel and herself entered the foyer, Dee ignoring them as she ran her finger down the handle of the phone, bringing it up to her face so she could examine the collection of dust a little better.

Quistis and Selphie looked at each other again, before Selphie spoke up. "…Why wouldn't we be okay? We've only got our loved ones in the infirmary infected with the Freedom virus, slowly dying…"

"Not the Freedom virus!" Dee called as she rubbed the dust between her fingertips, before pulling off the metallic gauntlet and running her finger over the dust again.

"Everything will be okay, Selphie. We've been through tougher stuff then this." Rinoa said confidently, moving forward to grasp her friend's hands and give them a squeeze.

"…You know, I would've thought you two would've taken this a little harder then you are." Quistis said, her voice holding a chill to go with the snow outside. "Your Knights are sick, almost dead, and you're been acting like it's nothing."

"We are not!" Rinoa growled at Quistis.

"…There's no point in getting upset." Angel said quietly. "…Worrying will only make things harder. We just need to focus on what has to be done."

Dee stood up suddenly, looking down at her fingertips, before walking over to Angel.

Quistis was beginning to rebut as Dee approached Angel, taking her by the shoulder and leading her into the living room as Quistis' voice rose to follow them. "Well, I wish we all had your focus, Angel, because I don't know about you, but I feel like this is a waste of time, and we're better off spending our time by our lover's sides instead of wasting our time chasing ghosts!"

Whilst Angel was happy Dee had rescued her from Quistis' angst, she was confused at the troubled look on her face. "…Honey? What is it?"

Dee looked down at her fingers again, holding her gauntlet in one hand as she lifted her hand up to Angel's ear. "Listen…" She said, rubbing her fingers together right next to Angel's ear.

The sorceress blinked in mute surprise. It sounded like something was crunching together, like puffed rice crunches when you squash it under your fingers. Angel pulled back to watch the dust underneath Dee's fingers slowly crunch into powder, instead of collecting into a small lint ball. "W-what is it?" Angel repeated.

"I don't think this is all dust. I think it's nano-bots." Dee whispered, looking around her and at the room they were in. "Everything. They're dead and they're covering everything. Trillions upon trillions of them everywhere."

"Wha – of course!" Angel declared. "Veronica's nano-bots! But honey, why did you take me aside like that?"

Dee looked down sheepishly at her boots. "…I didn't know wether dust went crunchy in this world or not. Everything is dust-proof in my world, and, well…I wasn't so sure what dust really was…"

Angel looked down at Dee for a moment – before hugging her tightly. "Honey, I know you feel embarrassed, but next time just say it! We have precious little time!"

Once this information was relayed back to Quistis she did two things – fumed briefly for not thinking of it herself, and thought hard. "…The nano-bots are protein-based, according to the files on the Immortal world – and they tend to dissolve by themselves after a short while. Ergo, Julius and Veronica must still be here. _Somewhere_ in here."

Her eyes narrowed as she lifted her dark glasses off her nose to tuck them above her forehead. "There's precious little time left. Tear the place apart."

* * *

Half an hour later, Dee and Selphie were down in the bedroom, Dee using her superior strength to tip the king-sized bed up and onto it's side as Selphie rummaged through the cupboards, pulling out the contents and dumping them in the middle of the floor.

"So, this is all, like…dead robots?!" Selphie asked Dee as she looked down at the dust in the bottom of the cupboard – before using the butts of her nun-chaku to smash the wood into splinters, looking for some kind of trapdoor or switch in the process.

"Kinda. Sorta. I guess. Can a robot die?" Dee asked back with a note of confusion in her voice as she tipped the bed over, the frame clattering against the wall as she pulled out a small knife from her belt and began to cut into the carpet beneath.

"…I guess. I mean, they wouldn't be all over the place then, would they?" Selphie replied as she pulled the edges of the cupboard, shaking it vigorously, before letting it go with a huff and moving to the drawers besides it, feeling around the edges for any buttons or latches before beginning to pull out the drawers one-by-one.

Dee shrugged as she pulled the carpet from the ground with a grunt, her muscles knotting underneath her jacket as she tore it from the ground to see the cold concrete beneath. Above her head, above the ceiling, thumps and bumps could be heard from the living room, Angel and Rinoa searching desperately.

She paused in her work to look up at the ceiling, watching the light flicker as something heavy thumped into the floor. "Quistis is wrong, ya know. Mama and Rinoa are taking this just as hard as you guys – its just they have each other to rely on for support." She looked down at the floor underneath the carpet, grunting as she ripped some more up. "…Maybe because they're both Sorceresses or something, I dunno…"

"This has all twisted us right up…Quistis more then usual, I think." Selphie said quietly as she poked her arm into one of the drawer-holes, feeling the inside of the drawer for anything suspicious. "You know she never had a real boyfriend before Seifer? I don't wanna say it, but if she lost him…I dunno what she'd do."

"That's a bit sad…" Dee said, ripping up more carpet sullenly, slowly moving across the room – before yelping as she ran into the wall. "Atch! What the?!"

Selphie frowned, getting up off the floor to move over to Dee as she rubbed the bump on her head. "You okay?"

"Yeah…that's weird." Dee replied, pointing down to the floor.

The two girls looked down at the edge of the floor where the carpet ended – underneath the wall, it seemed. "Guys, we found it!!" Selphie cried as Dee stepped forward, pulling her gauntlet off with her teeth to run her palm over the wall.

"…This section of the wall feels less rough then the bits besides it. And it's warmer then the other bits too." Dee muttered as she ran her bare hand over the wall – before stepping back and, with a powerful shout, kicked out with her boot – to slam her foot into the wall hard, the entire dome shaking under the power of the kick.

"Whoa, careful! You'll bring the whole dome down around us!" Selphie wailed as the other three women scuttled down the steps behind her to enter the bedroom.

"No time left!" Dee shouted in reply, twisting her body around – to launch another powerful kick, this one slamming into the door hidden within the wall with brilliant force, the paint covering the door cracking to reveal a human-sized rectangle beneath. Dee stepped back, her jaw set, and with a sudden shout she stamped her foot out, suddenly launching herself forward in the process, her entire weight in the back of the kick –

Which blew the door off it's hinges to clatter into the darkness within.

The women all held their breathes. Dee stood before the now open doorway, pulling her gauntlet onto her naked fist before her fists balled, ready for anything. Selphie stood behind her, her nun-chaku gripped tightly in one hand as she peered into the darkness. Quistis, Rinoa and Angel all stood behind them, wide-eyed and momentarily confused.

Nothing happened at first…

…Before a woman's voice called forth from the darkness. "…You may as well come in."

* * *

The girls all walked in as one, Dee leading the group with her fists up, to enter another room of the dome. Much like the living room above them, this one had a couch and a tv, static blaring on the screen – but on one end was a table with several computers all hooked up together, wires running into walls and tiny satellites and broadcast arrays strewn over the room. On the other end of the room was a double bed, a shape filling the blankets covering it…

Sitting on the couch was a woman, her silhouette slight within the shadows of the girls. The only light that entered the room was coming from the bedroom the women had just invaded from, and the harsh snow emitting from the television.

Rinoa stepped forward, blinking in the sudden darkness. "…Veronica?"

The woman on the couch turned her head slightly at the name, but said nothing.

"Vero, its me, Selphie." Selphie piped up. "Remember me?"

"Yes Selphie. I remember you." Was the quiet reply.

"Hold it…" Dee muttered, her hand suddenly coming out to grab Rinoa, her arm barring the woman's way forward.

"What is it?" Rinoa asked, taking a step back and frowning down to the girl – before realising what was wrong.

_The walls were moving._

No trick of the light, no flash of static on the walls. The plaster literally undulated, squirming and shifting, rolling like ripples on a lake, shuddering like a naked babe. The walls seemed to move as if they were a sentient being.

"Nanos." Dee muttered again, slowly lowering her arm. "The entire room is filled with them."

Quistis blinked and looked down at the floor – to watch as it rolled around over her boots, coming up to her ankles and spilling out into the bedroom behind them. It was the color of mercury, rolling like liquid metal, and it flowed freely around their feet. Selphie yelped as she noticed, lifting her feet up and out of the billions upon trillions of tiny machines one at a time, shaking them off her boots to no avail.

The woman on the couch sighed like she was dealing with children, before slowly moving to a stand and turning around. She wore nothing, her naked skin glistening with glittering silver as she turned to face her guests. Her dark hair had turned a dull silver, almost like it had been dyed a chrome colour, and her face was streaked with channels of silver coming from the corners of her mouth, her nose and her eyes – as if she had been crying mercury.

Rinoa's sudden disgust at the living room was instantly quelled as she looked at Veronica in complete shock. "…Veronica…" She breathed, almost as if the person who stood before them was not her but something…different.

"I'm still me, Rinoa. At least, I am so far." Veronica said coldly, her silver brow crinkling audibly as she frowned, almost in disgust.

"…What happened?"

"You know what happened." Veronica spat, the walls around her rippling like a muscle clenching and unclenching. "The 'miracle cure' the Immortals gave me. The accident."

"Oh Veronica…" Rinoa breathed again, taking a step forward – to be stopped as the floor stuck fast around her feet, her boots trapped in a quagmire of nanomachines. She had to catch herself, being suddenly struck off balance for a moment. "Veronica, what…"

"I know why you're here." Veronica interrupted. "And if you think I'm going to help you after this, you're sorely mistaken."

Quistis frowned, speaking up from the back of the group as she placed her hands behind her... "What do you mean…"

"Shut up!!" The naked silver woman shouted suddenly, the walls and floor suddenly erupting into action, razor-sharp spikes shooting out from the walls and undulating across the floors with the shout like a decibel reading. "You SeeDs! You don't deserve to have this world!!"

"What the hell are you talking about?!" Dee shouted, feeling her skin crawl as a bead of sweat rolled down her forehead, trying to keep her cool as the sharp spikes protruding from the floor slid past her. The nanomachines were still responding to her, responding to her words, her emotions, and acting them out with vicious intent.

"After the war, after everything he went through!" Veronica shouted again, her fists balled by her side, her body quivering with anger, the spikes on the walls quivering along with her. "…You forgot about us! You let us go! And now he's dead and he cant come back!"

"Slow down a minute!" Angel cried, grunting with effort to pull her foot out of the nanomachines they were standing in to wade forward a meter. "What do you mean forget?! What do you mean dead?! Where is Juluis?!"

Veronica's face twisted into a furious ball then, and the walls suddenly exploded outward, Selphie and Dee shrieking to fear as the nanomachines swarmed around them, smashing into their bodies and flinging them around the room –

Before they were both dropped down to the ground with a thud, the solid floor greeting them unceremoniously, a swift crack of a whip sounding once again as Dee looked up to see Quistis, Save The Queen unfurled and crackling with electrical energy. The razor-sharp tip had slashed out to slice through the wave of nanomachines, cutting them off and sending an electrical pulse through them at the same time, killing them instantly.

Quistis now waved the whip before her, the tip sparking and spitting electricity, the nanomachines scattering before it. "Veronica!!" Quistis roared, her hips twisting to pull back the whip, the tip cracking loudly within the small room. "You will stand down!!"

Dee picked herself up quickly, watching in wonder as the nanomachines around her scattered like frightened dustlets, whipping around – to see Veronica had leapt back from the couch and was standing before the bed, shivering in fright, almost cowering – but still standing before the bed. The nanomachines that had covered the walls and floor had slid away from the others to cocoon the bed, covering it completely like a mound of silver shavings.

"Okay! Just put the whip away!" Veronica cried desperately, wincing as Quistis snapped the whip once again, electricity flashing out of the tip. "Please!!"

Quistis sullenly lowered the weapon, walking forward to approach Veronica – but keeping the weapon in hand, keeping the handle moving, steadily flicking the length of whip behind her almost like a cat flicking it's tail. "What is on the bed?"

"…Julius." Veronica whispered, the venom returning to her voice now the whip had been lowered.

"What happened?"

The silver woman's jaw quivered, her fists balled beneath her as she clenched her teeth together. "After we left WarWorld, you forgot about us!" She hissed. "We were preparing to return, we were told we'd be welcomed with open arms in Galbadia – but when we arrived outside Deling, they attacked us! They thought we were terrorists!! I remember Julius screaming in rage as he tore apart our attackers, swearing and cursing Zell's name!"

"What did Zell do wrong?!" Dee interrupted.

Veronica levelled her steely gaze to the girl, the young Immortal returning it with as much passion as she could muster. "He swore to Julius that once the mission was over, we'd be welcomed back to the Gardens. But the leader of the Galbadian Garden didn't even want to listen to us. He said that Julius was a traitor and a deserter and that we should both be shot for his transgressions!"

Quistis tightened her jaw. Over the years after Trabia was shot down, Julius had been on the run from the Gardens for stealing Veronica's body. It was taboo, trying to revive a body that had suffered a Full Death – to try to bring such a person back was a great insult. Especially seeing as Veronica had been gone for almost 48 hours when he retrieved her. During his time on the run he had used his incredible skill with a computer and his SeeD training to not only keep one step ahead of his chasers, but also throw as many spanners into the workings of the Gardens as he could, spiteful for his treatment by his former friends. Quistis could almost taste her disgust, almost picturing the SeeD Commander of Galbadia as Squall handed over the re-enrollment papers to him, the wiry smirk on his face as he handed them to his second, the smug look in his eyes.

_They must've planned it all along…played us for fools…_ Quistis thought to herself.

"But Veronica, we need you now…" Rinoa said quietly.

"A little too late for that, isn't it?" Veronica growled to her. "Do you know how we've lived our lives the past year?! On the run. Hounded. Forced to hide in shitty little dives, forced to hide from Garden! I couldn't even visit my parents, tell them I was alive again!" She laughed sarcastically. "And how could I when I look like this. I'm a freak! I'm a walking biomechanical factory! The nanomachines keep replicating and replicating, they just keep coming and I don't know how long I can keep from losing complete control!!"

Her voice reached an octave on the last word, her arms lifting to reveal her fingers curled rigidly, as if she was about to strangle someone. Her body hunched down, her muscles pulling taut beneath her skin, as if she was trying desperately to keep something inside of her.

Save The Queen kept flicking about on the floor, the tip skittering and sparking, keeping the nanomachines surrounding the bed at bay. "I'm sorry for what has happened to you, but we don't have time." Quistis said, her voice like permafrost. "The men on the world are coming down with something, a virus, and we think it's Immortal in origin."

Veronica chuckled quietly, pulling up to flop down into the nanomachines behind her, the cocoon giving under her weight like a beanbag. "And what makes you think I'll help you when I cant even help myself?"

"You owe us."

Dee and Selphie turned to look at Angel, who stepped forward, placing her hand on Quistis' shoulder, pulling her away from the silver woman gently, moving up to Veronica to kneel before her, like a knight kneeling before a queen. "We brought you back. We gave you life again. And we promise to give Julius his life back too."

The silver woman shook her head slowly. "What are you going to do? Give him some Phoenix Down?" She leaned forward slowly, looking down to Angel with sadness in her eyes. "He had cancer. He'd gotten it years before Zell came for him. He used up the last of his strength fighting in the War, and running…and I couldn't keep cutting it out of him." She leaned closer to Angel, silver mercury dripping from her eyes and mouth as she whispered into her ear. "He could feel the nanomachines devouring it. Devouring him. And he was in constant agony." The mercury began to flow from her eyes now. "Every day I caused him more pain…and every day, the more I cut out, the more it grew…until…"

She pulled her head away from Angel to fall back against the cocoon, the bulb withdrawing under the bed – to reveal the lump within the sheets, Veronica leaning against him, leaving a silvery trail as she rolled over on the sheets.

Swalllowing nervously, Rinoa stepped forward slowly, approaching the bed and reaching out tentatively for the top of the sheet, pulling it back…

…And began to dry retch, yanking the covers back over the body as she spun away, tears in her eyes as she ran from the bed, Dee catching her and holding her steady, a bewildered and frightened look on the young girl's face.

Rinoa couldn't speak. There were no words. All she could do was picture the sad, pitiful man, handsome in a rugged sort of way, the joy that had inhabited him when he'd finally completed his quest, holding his lover in his arms and feeling her warmth once more…

…and now all she could see was the pitted husk of the dead corpse.

"We still need you." Angel said quietly, her eyes closed, her body unnaturally still. She had only caught a glimpse of what Julius had become…and she was fighting the memory with all her might. "We need you, and Julius needs you."

Veronica sighed audibly, sitting up to look down to Angel. Her face was full of pain, the silver still streaking down her face…but she reached up to brush them off her face. "…Almighty Hyne, you don't listen do you?"

Angel slowly opened her eyes to look up at Veronica. "We cant take no for an answer."

She then reached out, grabbing Veronica's hands tightly, squeezing them within her own grasp. "I promise you, Veronica…we will help you fix this. I don't know how yet…but we will."

The silver woman looked shocked at the physical contact, as if no one had touched for a very long time. She let out a long, drawn out sigh, almost unbelieving…before nodding slightly. "…Okay. For you…whoever you are."

"I'm Angel. Angel Din…" Angel caught her breath for a moment. "…Angel Centurion."

Veronica smirked to her. "…Zell's fiancée, hmm?" She chuckled, shaking her head again. "By the gods, you're in for a tough ride."

* * *

Selphie, Quistis and Rinoa watched Veronica put on the special suit Quistis had brought with her in her backpack. The suit had been made with nanomachines in mind – once the air-tight material was closed and sealed, small pockets around the legs and body would begin to fill with the excess that Veronica constantly excreted. It was made from a special plastic, something the Estharians had dreamt up for space travel – only thing was, it didn't have the insulation needed for the extreme cold for space. It worked just as well as a hazardous chemicals suit. It wasn't a permanent thing, of course – when they got back to the Balamb Garden, Veronica would be placed in an air-tight containment area until they knew what was happening.

Angel and Dee stood away from the others, in the fake bedroom, Angel facing the stairs as Dee walked up behind her. "Whats wrong, Ma?"

Angel looked back to the teenager with fear in her eyes. "…To see her like that…it's unbelievable what has happened to her…"

The Immortal girl looked down to her boots. "…I cant help but feel…responsible somehow. It was our Resurrection procedure that did that to her…"

"It's not just that…" Angel whispered. "Without Julius to ground her, she's lost now…just existing. He brought her back for nothing. She's frightened, confused, and angry at the world all at the same time…I just don't see how running tests on her will make any of it better."

"I know. The nanomachines would've been everywhere by now. Who knows what Cid is thinking." Dee said with a pout.

Angel stared at Dee. The girl had obviously missed the point entirely. Angel wasn't worried about Veronica's nanomachines….she was worried what would happen once they got back to Garden.

Rinoa walked into the room, her face a little pale. "She's ready now, I think…"

"Are you okay, Rinoa?" Angel asked, her face full of worry as the Sorceress approached her and grasped her shoulder for support.

"…It's not that he was dead…it was that he was so…" Rinoa whispered.

"I know." Angel replied quietly, pulling the girl into a hug, holding her tightly.

They separated as Quistis lead Veronica out of the darkness, the silver woman now clad in a bright yellow space-suit, a helmet sealed over her head, a clear plexi-glass sheet revealing the silver face within. Veronica looked distraught as she left the room, looking about herself anxiously, almost like she was expecting an attack. Selphie followed them both closely, approaching Dee. "Um…Vero asked if you could….well…"

"What Selphie?" Dee asked.

Selphie didn't say anything. She just turned and pointed back into the dark room.

Looking to Angel for a moment, Dee slowly followed Selphie's finger, entering the dark room once more to look down at the bed….and the shape upon it. Only this time, it wasn't a figure hidden within shadows – the figure had been cocooned by the nanomachines that had inhabited the room once more, but this time they had solidified, turning to stone around the corpse of Julius, entombing him within. It didn't take long for Dee to figure it out, and with a small grunt she grasped the sides of the solid stone and hefted it, the massive weight causing her to stagger back with a small yelp – before she regained her balance, gritting her teeth and forcing her muscles to take the strain.

Then she staggered out of the room and wondered how she could get it up the stairs.

* * *

Outside the dome, the girls waited for Dee to join them, hearing her mutter curses and groan as she tried to lift Julius up the stairs. Angel had offered to help, but had been bluntly refused – Dee was a Valkyre, one of the strongest Immortals ever, and she would handle this with dignity. Angel shook her head as the stone began to slowly come up from the portal down into the dome, the small pauses filled with grumbles and swear words. The girl was just as stubborn as her father.

As Dee shoved the stone out into the snow, Selphie racing forward to give Dee a hand out of the portal, Veronica turned to Angel. The older woman was watching Dee very intently with a small smile on her face. She had her father's strength, alright…

"Angel…I just want to say…"

Angel turned to Veronica, curiosity filling her face. "…What is it?" She asked…

…Before falling forward to her knees, her eyes wide as she lifted her hand up to her neck, a small dart with a fluffy red plume on the end of it jutting out of her neck – before she fell face-first into the snow, unmoving.

"Angel!" Rinoa shouted, running forward to Angel – before her head jerked back and she fell forward onto her face, her body sliding to a halt as a dart jutted out of the centre of her forehead.

"Sniper!!" Quistis screamed as Rinoa fell, twisting and running for the open portal – before a dart hit her head, just behind the ear, her body tumbling to the snow as well, Save The Queen unfurling out of her grasp as she lay still.

Selphie had immediately begun to try and push Dee back into the dome, trying to stop her from being hit. Dee protested, however, yelling at Selphie to get in herself, to stop kicking her in the head – before the kicks began to slowly subside, Selphie tumbling down the portal onto Dee, causing the two girls to roll down the stairs and crash into the foyer, smashing into the phone table and causing it to shatter into pieces, nano-husks filling the air as Dee and Selphie rolled to a halt.

Dee shoved Selphie off of her and placed two fingers against her neck, checking for a pulse and feeling it strong and steady beneath her fingertips. She looked at the dart, hollow with a small tuft of red fluff on the end, sticking out from Selphie's temple. A tranquilizer dart.

Rage flashed in the young girl's eyes. "We seriously don't have time for this!!" She yelled as she leapt to her feet, anger giving her feet wings as she bolted for the stairs, taking them three at a time to leap out of the portal, placing her foot on the end of the landing and pushing down with enough force to launch her off into the air!!

Flying through the air a good few meters, reaching the top of her arc and feeling gravity beginning to tug on her body, she barked a victorious yell as she spied someone lying supine atop one of the domes – before grunting in surprise as she felt something hit her abdomen, the dart hitting her just above her left hip. There was no force in the dart's penetration, it simply wasn't there – then was.

She hit the ground hard, falling to her side with a grunt, snow erupting as she rolled with the fall – to leapt to her feet, letting her momentum push her body back up to it's footing and into a sprint, running up the side of the dome she was approaching, her boots digging into the snow as she leapt again, her lithe body erupting from the ground almost like she was shot from a cannon, her legs coming up beneath her as she drew her fists up, her arc making her come down upon the sniper's position –

As she slammed her fist into the top of the dome, the steel roof crumpling under her fist, the entire dome shuddering violently and shaking the snow collected atop it off like a dog would shake off fleas – but her opponent had rolled at the last second, pulling his rifle with him as he slid off the edge of the dome to come up to his feet.

Instantly Dee was upon him, wrenching her gauntlet from the roof and throwing herself at him with a scream. She could see that the attacker was a male and covered in snow to conceal himself as he lifted his rifle with one hand to shoot another dart into her chest, the dart hitting just beneath her right breast – before he flicked it down, gripping the barrel and holding the weapon out before him to deflect Dee, twisting his hips as she landed upon him to shove her off his body, sending her sprawling into the snow.

She was on her feet immediately, leaping to them like a cat before charging again, running forward with speed before suddenly leaping, her entire body twisting to the left as she threw her right leg out, the tip of her boot aimed at his head – as he threw up his arms in an X, catching her leg expertly and, twisting his hips and stepping out of the way once more, allowed her to fall to the ground, hitting the snow with a wet thud.

Screaming in rage, Dee lifted herself up on her hands to flick her legs out, spinning her body around to slam her foot into the leg of her assailent – who buckled under the kick, his knee bending in as he twisted with the blow – before he suddenly twisted his knee back out, forcing it straight, Dee's leg repelled almost as soon as she landed her blow. Following with the momentum of the repel, Dee spun her body around within the snow, arcing her other foot up and out, aiming for the man's chest – but he grappled with her again, grasping her boot before it even landed the blow within an iron-clad grip and pulled her back across his body, sending her sliding across the road and into the side of a dome, crashing into some snow-covered trash-cans, refuse and snow littering Dee's body as she rolled to her belly.

Pushing herself to her feet once more, finally learning that rushing the man wasn't going to work, she advanced more slowly, her gauntlet-clad fists raised. She could see her assailent more clearly now – he was old, possibly older then Cid, and only had one eye, a dark patch covering the right, long white hair flowing down around his face from the fight…

She took advantage of her attacker's disability, her left hand snaking out to distract his left eye, his right hand coming out to slap it aside – as her right hand flew through the air to strike his ribs, her body twisting into the blow…as he stepped forward, her hand slipping past his ribs to be trapped between his torso and his arm, his body twisting again as his foot came out to throw her to the ground once more, this time with enough force to almost cause the ground to shake.

Dee hit the ground hard, coughing as the wind was blown out of her. She watched with pain-filled eyes as the one-eyed man stepped back, allowing her room to move, even though she didn't. Gritting her teeth, tasting the cold snow and gravel of the ground, she doggedly pushed herself to her feet, staggering only for a moment – before advancing once more, her fists flying fast with almost lightening speed, her left jab deftly flicked to one side as her right hook was expertly dodged, her body twisting with a round-house kick aimed for the abdomen – which scored, blowing the man off his feet for a moment, lifting him a few inches off the ground to skid across the floor for a moment, Dee feeling the sweet sense of victory looming – before he landed and, stepping forward and into range with almost uncanny grace, stabbed his left leg out to plant his boot into her stomach.

It was a force unlike anything she'd ever felt. The kick was so powerful she was literally blown off her feet, her body sent straight across the road to deflect off the curved roof of a dome and smash into the roof of the one behind it, the steel crumpling like cellophane beneath her body as a loud _donnnng_ echoed out over the open plain.

"Oh my gods…" Dee breathed as she pulled herself out of the crater and slid down the edge of the dome to land on the street outside. She had _never_ been kicked that hard. That's why she felt a shiver of fear shoot up her spine as she watched the one-eyed man walk around the dome she'd just bounced off and begin to approach her.

"W-want some more huh?" Dee called defiantly, slowly and painfully pushing herself to her feet, staggering as she regained her balance.

"No." Said the one-eyed man, standing before her and crossing his arms, looking down at her as she breathed heavily and put her fists up. "I'm just waiting."

"For wha…" Dee whispered as she finally fell forward, her body finally succumbing to the tranquilizers he'd shot into her torso.

"That." Barque muttered, stepping forward to kneel beside her and roll her over gently. Her eyes were still half-open, her breath soft as steam curled from her lips. The old man gently brushed the snow from her face and placed her head down into the snow softly, sighing sadly as she mewled slightly. "You'll be okay, little one…everything will be okay." He whispered softly, stroking her hair until the chemicals took full effect.

When she was finally asleep he pushed himself to his feet with a grunt, wincing as he felt his hip where she'd kicked him. "Ach…you were better then I'd thought…" He muttered to the sleeping teenager as he placed his hands on his back and lean backwards, his spine cracking audibly in the cold.

"Is it over?" A voice called, Barque straightening up to see Veronica peering out from behind the crumpled dome.

"Yes, my dear. She's asleep now."

Veronica stepped out from her hiding place and approached the old man, walking up to stand beside him, looking down at her. "So…that's…"

"Yep."

"…Will she be able to…?"

Barque sighed, reaching up to scratch the back of his neck through his thick white hair. "…I thought so, but it's beginning to get difficult to predict stuff now…and this has thrown a spanner into the works. I'm going to have to keep playing my cards close to my chest until the very end – otherwise who knows what might happen."

The silver woman nodded, her suit crumpling audibly as she turned to him. "…But you'll keep your promise?"

Barque smirked down to her as he lifted his hands to pull his hair back, tying it up into it's ponytail before doffing the snow out of his beard. "Of course, my sweet. This is merely a hiccup. Now come. We'll gather up Julius and be on our way…a little earlier then I'd said, but then, I've had time to prepare…"

And the two walked off, leaving Dee in the snow, sleeping quietly as snow began to fall around her…

* * *

_Sorry for such a long delay in chapters. Made this one a biggun in ways of apology, lol._

_This storyline has been a difficult one to write. As opposed to the last two Tournament stories, I've actually been planning this one out for a long time, writing down a storyline within a small notebook I keep on me at all times. Suffice to say, this has helped me with the narration of the story, and helps me think up new ideas – but because there's so many ideas just waiting to come out, sometimes its hard to focus on the chapter at that time._

_This story is nowhere near over, obviously, but within it there will be many things I'll be putting to you that might shock you, might confuse you, might scare you. Please note that I will try my hardest to keep the story flowing as best I can._

_I'm not shy in saying that I think this will be one of my best stories yet, and I'm happy to still have a few people who will enjoy reading it as much as I do writing it._


	4. Investigative Finality

Chapter 4 – Investigative Finality

Over twenty years ago…

* * *

_The world is a beautiful place._

_Balamb is a beautiful place._

_Green fields that span for miles. Thick forests, lush with vegetation and wildlife. Great mountain ranges, born from Gaia's attempts to touch the heavens, skirt the north. To the south, the massive ocean laps at Balamb's shores, licking at the sand, reaching for the fields._

_The man who walked across the sand did so with his head held high, his steely-blue eyes looking about him in wonderment, at the endless blue of the sky, the soft waves of wind in the field-grass, the fluffy foam of the ocean lapping at the shore. He drew in the smell of the world, scenting sea-salt crisp on his nostrils, the wet dirt and grass to his left._

_He had left the train station fifteen minutes ago, the small platform open for the world to see. The delightful steam engine could be seen puffing away as it traveled back to Timber, the thick curls of white smoke billowing into the sky, injecting some clouds into the smooth, endless blue._

_The man hefted his backpack and dragged his fingers through his blond, graying hair. He had thought of cutting it before he'd left for his journey, but figured why bother. His cheeks and chin were beginning to grow into a thick blond beard, the edges around his ears and under his chin grey with age. He couldn't be more then forty, yet age was creeping up to him, and it was beginning to show. A dark, sharp tattoo etched itself down the left side of his face, the edges of the bottom stabbing into the beard, disappearing beneath the growth._

_He was approaching Balamb town. He could see the small wooden fence encircling the town, the tips of the little huts built within. He could smell the aroma of cooking fish now, and his mouth was beginning to water – his trip had left him hungry, having not eaten before setting out._

_He could see the harbour now, almost merely a short wooden jetty and a small boat warehouse beside it. Several people filled the jetty, their fishing lines cast into the sea, watching their lures bob and sway beneath the waves._

_As he approached the harbour, he blinked as he found himself approaching a man. _

_This man sat in a deckchair in the sand, wearing only a pair of shorts, a pair of flip-flops tossed lazily next to a cooler, several discarded beer cans littering the area around the deck-chair. The man had one hand on his fishing rod and the other draped on the butt of a rifle, the weapon laid out over his lap like it belonged there. His head was tossed back, his black hair drifting gently in the wind as his snores rumbled out of his chest, up his windpipe and out of his mouth._

_The traveler approached the sleeping man, looking down to him. He looked to be in his mid-thirties, and was fairly well built, his skin, tanned from the Balamb sun, holding a few long and short scars – wounds of battle._

_The traveler shifted his backpack on his back and grunted as he smirked, before tapping the nearest leg of the deckchair, trying to make the sleeping man awaken…_

…_Only to look up to look down the barrel of a rifle, the man's hand having pushed the butt of the rifle up and at the traveler's head. The armed fisherman hadn't even seemed to have moved, his head still flung back like he was studying the sky – but his eyes were still closed, his snores now deadened. His voice was distinctly Balamb in accent as he spoke, his words spoken with a deep tone. "Careful stranger. It's dangerous to wake a sleeping fisherman."_

_The traveler spread his hands, shrugging as he smiled down to the fisherman. "I've just gotten off the train and was wandering a little. I was looking for a place to stay."_

_The fisherman still didn't move. Neither did his weapon, the barrel unflinching. "Hotel ain't finished yet." He muttered, the Balamb droll rolling off his tongue. "The town's still in it's 'development phase', as my girlfriend calls it." He turned his head then, opening one eye to cast his single gaze up to the traveler, squinting his hazel eye at the light of the warm sun. "Yer welcome to stay within the walls, but you wont get much of a roof over yer head."_

_The traveler's smile widened a little. "I guess I'll just rough it then."_

"_Rough it? You mean camp in the fields?" The fisherman asked, chuckling as he spoke. "We got free-roaming monsters out here, mister. You aint even armed." He waggled his rifle as he spoke._

"_Some people don't need to rely on a weapon, ya know?" The traveler replied, moving to a kneeling postion as he spoke, the fisherman being generous to get the rifle's barrel out of his face as he spoke._

"_Oh no?" The fisherman asked, sitting up now, looking down at the traveler as he removed his backpack and his jacket. "What then? You got a gun in that pack of yours?"_

"_Nope." The traveler replied with a cheeky smile as he reached into the pack – to pull out a small case. Opening the case, he removed a small rod – then another, and another, screwing each rod into place before finally making a fishing rod. He attached the reel as he spooled the fishing line out, through the loops on the rods._

"_C'mon stranger, don't leave me in suspense here – unless you plan to fish yer way out of a fight!" The fisherman said with a grin._

"_I use my body." The traveler replied, knotting on a lure and sinker before standing to cast the line out into the water, the lure plopping into the sea only a few meters away from the fisherman's line. "I'm a martial artist."_

"_Aha! A pugilist!" The fisherman called out with glee, lifting the rifle up and out of his lap to place it down in the sand beside him. "Not many of them around these days."_

"_Well, I'm hoping to fix that…" The traveler muttered wistfully, taking a seat in the sand beside the fisherman._

_The man suddenly leaned out of his deckchair, the chair creaking audibly with the strain of supporting his weight as he put out an outstretched hand. "The name's Patrick Dincht."_

_The traveler took the man's hand within his own, feeling the warm grip tighten in his own. "Pleasure." He said with a nod._

_Patrick retrieved his hand from the stranger and sat back in his chair, still looking at the man as he tugged on his rod for a second, trying to get the fish to bite. "...You got a name, or am I supposed to give you one all on my own?"_

_The stranger smiled a mysterious little smile. "…Part of me wants to let you go ahead, and see what you come up with."_

_Patrick laughed at that, but kept quiet, a small glint in his eye._

_The traveler remained silent, watching the waves lap at the shore, watching his line swimming around lazily._

"_Hmph. Fine then." Patrick muttered, reaching over his deckchair to flick the lid off his cooler and reach into it to pull out a beer. He looked at the beer's label for a second, a small smile spreading over his face – before tossing it to the stranger. "I'll call you… Barque. Since I cant think of anything better."_

_Barque caught the beer and opened it, the lid hissing as he cracked the top and lifted it to his lips. "Barque it is then." He said with a grin. "Does it suit me?"_

_Patrick smirked down at Barque, reaching into his cooler to take up a beer of his own. "Not really." He said, cracking open his own and shaking the foam from the top. "To be honest, you seem more like a…"_

* * *

"Fucking motherfucker!"

"Dee! Watch your language!"

Dee sat up, the snow covering her falling to reveal a very angry, cold and wet Immortal girl. She looked about herself, her sudden rage subsiding as she saw all her friends sitting around her, Angel frowning still from having to scold her, Quistis looking annoyed as usual, Selphie looking a bit sleepy. The snow fell around them as she looked up to them. "Wha – what? Where is he?!"

"The sniper? You fought him?" Quistis asked, her eyes steely as she looked down to the girl.

Dee nodded, coughing suddenly before spitting out some blood. "Y-yeah…and he was good."

"Good?" Rinoa called, walking back from one of the crumpled domes and crouching down beside Dee. "You're lucky to be alive!"

The girl pouted, wiping the blood from her lips. "…I guess…" She muttered sullenly as Angel helped her to her feet.

"Did you get a good look at him?" Quistis asked.

"…Sorry. Was too busy getting the crap kicked out of me."

"Are you sure?!"

"I told you, no!"

"Dammit!" Quistis shouted. She turned away from the others and walked over to one of the wrecked domes, kicking the snow away from her feet as she walked.

"What's her problem?!" Dee spat as she was helped to her feet, wincing and gripping her stomach as her muscles pinched in protest.

"We have no lead now." Selphie said quietly, watching Quistis standing away from them, fuming silently. "With Julius and Veronica we could have figured out a way to counter-act the virus…but now we have to look for them. And we don't know how much time we have before Freedom…"

"Gods! What is it with assuming it's Freedom?!" Dee cried, throwing her hands in the air. "Why have we automatically assumed it's all our fault!? It could just as easily be a magic spell, or another Sorceress, or…"

"Dee, please." Angel whispered, placing her hand on the girl's shoulder reassuringly. "…Nobody thinks this is our fault."

"You could've fooled me!"

"Enough! Shut up!" Shouted Rinoa. "Fighting amongst ourselves isn't going to solve any of this!"

Dee bit her lip as she looked at Rinoa, the snow falling onto her contrasting with the inky blackness of her hair, shooting daggers at the sorceress as she balled her fists, the older woman shooting her gaze straight back to her, the freedom-fighter princess unflinching under the young girl's burning eyes…before the young Immortal turned away from the group, wincing as she walked away from them, grasping her stomach.

"Dee…" Angel called, taking a step to follow her…

…Before Rinoa reached out to grab her arm, holding her in her place. "No. Give her a minute."

"But…"

"No Angel! We can't let our emotions get the better of us, we need to think!"

"Rinoa's right." Quistis muttered coldly, trudging back through the snow to join them once more. Her pretty face was still twisted slightly, her frown creased, like she was holding her anger in check. Her voice was like shards of permafrost, digging into Angel's ears as she spoke. "Our one lead is now dead. What else do we have?"

The girls fell silent for a moment. Selphie sat back down in the snow, a dejected look on her face. Rinoa rubbed her chin, cupping her elbow in her hand as she looked up into the cloudy sky. Quistis had her arms folded under her chest, her bottom lips moving into her mouth as she bit the skin gently. Angel placed her hands in her pockets, looking over to Dee, who was leaning against a dome with her side, her back to them as her hands rubbed her arms, shivering in the cold.

The steam curled up from Rinao's mouth as she blew her air out forcefully, as if the steam were her worries and she was trying to dispel them as best she could. She watched the steam curl up into the sky, snowflakes cutting through the cloud easily…before it clicked. "Train…"

"Whu…?" Selphie mumbled, looking up to her.

"The train this morning. Those men. We never got to find out why they attacked us." Rinao shrugged her shoulders, her hands spreading as she spoke. "Perhaps it is connected. I mean, the Sorceress Heroes get attacked mere minutes before every man gets sick?"

As Rinoa spoke, Quistis closed her eyes, her face blank as she pinched the bridge of her nose, rubbing it between her gloved fingers. _By the almighty Hyne, why didn't I think of that?!_ "…Good point, Rinoa." She said out loud. "For all we know, they are the ones responsible. And it's not like we have any other place to be at the moment. We'll set out for Galbadia immediantly."

Rinoa helped Selphie up as Quistis walked past them, heading towards the ship. We walked past Dee, who didn't move, Angel coming up behind her to walk to her side, crouching down to look up to her. The young girl's face was puffy, her eyes shining. She'd obviously been trying not to cry in front of the others.

Angel didn't speak as Rinoa and Selphie stood behind her, waiting for her to move. She simply took Dee's hand and pulled on it gently, the young girl allowing herself to be lead away by the woman.

* * *

Five hours later, after a moodily silent trip in the boat, they arrived on Deling Beach, just west of the Tomb of the Unknown King. As they disembarked Angel looked up over the shoreline, to the cliffs raising up to the Tomb, and the grassy fields surrounding them. She remembered the times Zell had taken her there when they were on leave together, him carrying the picnic basket as he watched her run in the field, chasing butterflies and looking at the amazing entrance to the crypt in awe. They would sit outside the tomb all day, Zell telling her stories of Squall, Rinoa and himself walking in circles again and again and again, Squall refusing to take direction from Rinoa stubbornly, Zell finally finding the Brothers and getting them to join with them…

…Then he would unpack the Tent and they would sit on the edge of the cliffs at night, watching the water crash against the rocks below and tracing patterns in the foam of the waves as they rolled towards the cliff-face. Zell would have his arm around her shoulders, holding her close to him, and she would look up to him, his tattooed face framed by the starry night sky and glowing warmly from the tiny campfire, and would lean up to press her lips against his…

"Hey!"

Angel jumped suddenly, her mind snapping into focus. She looked over to Selphie, blinking hard at her. "W-wha?"

"You zoned out a little there Angie…" Selphie whispered as the others walked in front of them. "This ain't the time to daydream."

"I know Selphie…I'm just tired, stressed…" Angel sighed with fatigue, running her hands down her face. The blank blackness of the tranqulizers hadn't been refreshing, the girls having been left lying flat in the cold as the snow fell softly onto them. They'd all managed to warm up within the small, enclosed SeeD ship, but sleep hadn't come easily, or at all – they were all too wired, pulled taut like rubber-bands ready to snap.

Already their nerves were fraying, and with good reason. They had accomplished nothing in the twelve hours since the men had all begun to die – judging by how the civilians had been dropping, the boys didn't have much time left.

And, although the girls had no way of telling, they could feel the end looming, like a chill that touched their spines and causing their bodies to tremble in a mixture of fear and loathing.

Everything seemed to take longer then normal. Walking, breathing, blinking. Time had been permanently Slowed, replaced by the unrelenting truth of their situation – that if they didn't find something, anything, soon to repair this damage, then…

They all didn't try to think about it, even talk about it. If they did that…it might come true.

* * *

The sight as they reached the gates of the city didn't make them feel any better. Already the Galbadian Army had stepped in to take over the situation, the female soldiers riding around the city in trucks or jeeps, collecting the bodies of the dead men to be taken elsewhere for decontamination.

Selphie stuck close to Rinoa and Quistis as she watched a woman wail as the soldiers walked out of an apartment tenement, carrying a dead body by the arms and legs. The woman, barely forty, grasped the armoured shoulder-plates of one of the soldiers, screaming for them to drop her husband, to allow her to give him a proper burial – but she was shrugged off by the soldier, barked at by the other as they hefted the dead body onto the pile on the back of the truck, the woman throwing herself to the pavement and weeping as the two women walked back into the apartment to search for any other corpses.

"Its horrible…" Dee whispered as she walked past the truck – to see tens of them lining the roadsides, each with two soldiers walking back and forth into homes and apartment buildings, piling the corpses higher and higher. "…Its unbearable…why…"

"Disease control." Quistis muttered. "The city needs to get rid of the corpses before they begin to rot and draw animals and sickness."

Her voice was cold, efficient, like a robot, and Rinoa shot a look at her as she walked. It was fine to quell your emotions – but to wipe them out completely, that was…well, like…_Squall_. The Sorceress bit her tongue, however. They both knew Quistis couldn't replace Squall, no matter how hard she tried – but pointing out each other's flaws weren't going to get them anywhere. She and Quistis had never seen eye-to-eye in the first place – what with Rinoa's Sorceress powers overshadows Quistis' Blue magic, plus the obvious rivalry between student factions over who was the most pretty out of the two of them…

A commotion was happening a few blocks down. As the women neared it, it became obvious that one of the women who had lost her husband wasn't going to give up his body so easily. Having overpowered the soldiers who had been sent into her house, a women had barricaded herself within her home, the butt of a Galbadian army rifle poking out of the mail-flap of her door. "You'll have to kill me before I'll let you take him!" She screamed out the door. "Nobody is going to take him from me!!"

"Lady, we need to do this! People might get sick otherwise!"

"So what?! We're dead anyways! The virus has killed all the men, now its just a matter of time before we're dead!!"

"Please be reasonable! We have people trying to work something out!"

The soldiers weren't having much luck, and one of them broke down into tears as the SeeDs passed. "Gods, I don't want to do this! I just want to get it over and done with!! Cant you see that?! Cant you see we don't want to do this?!"

The SeeDs said nothing as the walked past, keeping their eyes down as they passed similar situations. A little girl crying with her mother, the grown woman hugging her tightly to stop her from seeing the scared look on her face. The old lady sitting on the ground beside the body of her husband, waiting solemnly for the soldiers to come and praying that Death touches her soon. A teenager, bleeding from the forehead, receiving medical attention as she watched the car her father had been driving burn on the side of the road with her parents still trapped within through tear-soaked eyes.

* * *

When they reached the train station, they were surprised to find it completely overrun with Galbadian SeeDs, the efficient mercenaries filling out the platforms as they pored over the wreck that was left of the carriage that the girls had ridden into the city only hours before.

"What are all these G-SeeDs doing here?" Selphie asked as she saw a trio of women approach them.

"This area is restricted under SeeD jurisdiction." Said the leader, the trio stopping before them. "No civilians are allowed inside. If you wish to see your families abroad you must wait for appropriate transportation to become available."

"I'm Instructor Quistis of Balamb Garden." Quistis said formally, saluting to the girl.

"I.D.?" The girl asked, not returning the salute.

Angel sighed as everybody grudgingly pulled out their SeeD IDs. This was Galbadia SeeD to the letter – not so much a school as a machine which churned out automatons designed for war. The girl before them was barely sixteen, yet she had a blank look in her eyes as she studied the IDs, like she wasn't living at the moment. Angel had done a few missions with some G-SeeDs before – the blank stare was usually replaced by…_something else_ during a fight. G-SeeDs were especially known for their violent tendencies and solutions to problems.

Most people didn't think of this as a problem, however. There was a reason why Galbadia SeeD was bigger and better equipped then Balamb – of the jobs they took on, they were usually the most dangerous – ergo, the most lucrative.

"You three check out." The girl said, before nodding to Dee and Rinoa. "…But these two must to stay here."

"What? Why?" Dee asked in protest.

Quistis sighed, rubbing the bridge of her noser again. "Because you're both not SeeDs."

"I'm not?" Rinoa asked, a surprised look on her face as she looked down at the ID. "Damn, I knew I needed to take an exam or something…"

"They're with us. We'll keep an eye on them." Angel said to the robot.

"Negative." It replied.

Dee snorted her breath out of her nose, cracking her knuckles audibly by squeezing her fists together. The three G-SeeDs instantly focused their gaze on her, one unsnapping the holster on her pistol whilst the other moved her hand behind her back to the nun-chaku tucked into her belt.

Quistis turned, holding a hand up to the G-SeeDs as well as Dee. "Hold it you guys! We don't need this…"

"Attention!" A woman suddenly crowed, the G-SeeDs snapping to attention, their spines becoming like rigid poles as their arms slapped to their sides and their legs snapped together.

Selphie smiled as Fujin walked up behind the robots, her one razor-sharp eye fixed on the trio. "Hey, it's Fuji!"

"Dismissed!!" Fujin barked at the G-SeeDs, who saluted simultaneously and, as one, twisted on their heels and walked back into the station. The white-haired woman turned back to the Balamb SeeDs and gave them a rare smile, tiny as it was. "Complete jurisdiction. Headmaster Cid. Contact immediantly." She said to Quistis, who nodded.

"Lead me to the command centre, I'll call him there." She said to Fuijin, who tuned and walked quickly, the girls having to step up their pace to catch up.

"How the heck do you understand what she says?" Dee asked Selphie, watching Fujin walk and thinking that she had a wind-up doll that acted the same way.

"Bah, she just doesn't like to mess with words. She lets you fill in the blanks." Selphie said with a smirk. "If you don't get it, its your problem."

"Ah…" Dee said, a worried look on her face. "…Hope we don't have to work together for long…so what did she…?"

"Since Balamb SeeDs were attacked, Balamb SeeDs are the ones doing the investigation." Selphie replied, translating efficiently, having done it several times for Zell and Irvine in the past. "The G-SeeDs are probably just making sure nobody sneaks onto the platforms. Headmaster Cid needs to talk to Quistis, so that's where we're heading now…"

"No we're not." Quistis muttered as she mounted the escalator, gripping the rail as they began to move down to the platforms. "I'll go and contact Cid. Selphie, Dee, you check the train for clues. Fujin, Angel and Rinoa, you check the bodies of our attackers. You all know the drill."

"Heh…I've had to loot a corpse or two for info in my time." Rinoa said confidently as they stepped off the escalator. "This will be a piece of…cake…"

Her voice trailed off as she looked down the platform. Somehow the SeeDs had managed to gather up the other carriages from down the tracks, as well as any bodies that might have been flung out of the train during their trip. They were all laid out, almost five deep head-to-feet, down the entire platform. "T-there must be at least two hundred people here!" Rinoa breathed.

"Standard capacity for the trains are around a thousand…" Selphie whispered sadly, taking Rinoa's hand and giving it a squeeze before taking Dee's hand and leading her to the wreckage, Dee looking at all the bodies with a flabbergast expression on her face.

Fujin sighed with irritation as she watched Quistis walk to the command centre, a small tent full of communications equipment, at the end of the track. "Bitch…" She growled when she was out of earshot, before looking up to Angel and Rinoa. "Preference?"

"…I guess I'll take this row…" Angel said quietly, taking a pair of plastic gloves from a table just where the rows started. She paused for a moment to take off her engagement ring, slipping it into her pocket, before pulling the gloves on, snapping them around her wrists.

* * *

It wasn't a glorious business. The majority of the men weren't in the best of shape, having been beaten or slashed or shot to death. They all stunk, and rigor mortis had well and truly set in, making movement difficult. Not to mention you were feeling up a corpse.

Rinoa gagged a little as she pulled the hood off one to see that he had no face. "Gods…don't we have people who do this for us?"

"Local police. Busy." Fujin muttered, lifting up a guy's arm with a grunt, the ligament in his shoulder crunching as it lifted straight up in the air, like he was pointing at the ceiling.

Angel patted her man down. This wasn't your typical SeeD gig. SeeDs were mercenaries – they came in, fixed a problem, and left the local authorities to pick up the pieces. Since it's rare anybody would be stupid enough to attack SeeDs, it was uncommon for SeeD members to actually perform things such as autopsies or forensics. They do get trained in some forensics – but they weren't crime scene investigators.

"Finally, a guy with a face." Rinoa said out loud, pulling the hood down to look him over. The man looked like he was asleep, and would've almost seemed handsome if it wasn't for the masses upon masses of tattooes covering his face. "Okay, that's a little creepy…do any of your guys have an inky skin complexion as well?" Rinoa asked the others as she pulled down his collar to see the tattoos moved further down his neck and onto his torso.

"Affirmative." Fujin said, pulling out a knife to cut open her man's shirt, revealing his torso. It had been shaved bald, the tattoos spreading to every inch of flesh, even to his bare underarms. Fujin licked the end of her gloved finger and rubbed the skin vigorously before looking at her finger – nothing. "Permanent." She confirmed with a nod.

Angel stood up from her man, fingering something she had pulled out of his pocket. "What have you found in the pockets of yours?"

Rinoa looked over the bodies she had searched so far. "…Some candy, some spare change, one guy had some Triple Triad cards…"

"Same." Fujin said, pulling out some cards from the man's pocket before dumping it onto his chest, along with a handful of coins.

"The money…how much did they have?"

Rinoa stood and looked down her row. "Erm…this guy has about seven gil in coins…"

"Same." Fuijin repeated slowly, looking down at the spare change on the man's chest and moving it around with her finger, counting it in her head.

"And what currency is it?" Angel asked, her eyes narrow.

"Well its…Galbadian." Rinoa said with a frown, confused.

"Same." Fujin murmured.

"Stop that!!" Rinoa shouted to Fujin.

Angel looked down at the cash in her hand. Exactly seven gil. Precisely the amount of money left if you wish to catch a train from Deling to Timber and back again. She'd done the trip hundreds of times as a child, travelling to Timber with her parents to look at the animals at the Pet Shop. Esthar, Balamb and FH all used their own currency too – although you could use gil anywhere, some shops in the major cities only took the country-of-origin's currency as true payment. "…They're all from Galbadia. All of them." Angel stated firmly. "The coins prove it."

Rinoa cocked her head to one side. "Erm…how do you know that?"

Fujin rolled her eyes and slapped her hand into her face. "Bimbo…"

"I am not!"

* * *

In the train, Dee was holding Selphie by the legs as Selphie craned over the edge of the broken carriage, looking at the underbelly of the metal container. "Nothin here. Lets move up."

With a grunt Dee pulled Selphie back, the smaller girl wriggling on the ground for a moment before getting onto her feet. They had all around the interiors of several carriages, but aside from bullet casings and blood, they hadn't found much to go on. Selphie had the bright idea of looking for pieces of the bombs that had been planted – if there were any remnants, they could figure out where they originated from the model and make of the explosives and primers.

Dee looked Selphie up and down as she picked her way through the bullet-riddled compartment. The small girl was lithe on her feet, her bubbly energy seeming to emanate from her legs and move up her body like a shock wave. She regularly hopped about like an energizer bunny, and normally it made Dee's head spin. She wasn't a prude either, having agreed to go skinny-dipping with Dee one time in the girl's spa-room in the Dorms. They had laughed and had a good time. Selphie had looked so beautiful, her cheeks rosy from the hear as her chocolate hair fell around her face, framing her pretty green eyes and cute little nose…

To be fair, it would be a lie if Dee said she didn't have a tiny crush on Selphie. "Selph…" Dee said suddenly, her voice heavy with…something.

Selphie span to look at Dee, her eyes wide in a 'whats wrong' look – before she placed her foot down on a bullet casing, causing her to slip and fall to the floor with a thud. She was up on her feet in an instant, jerking on her top to rectify her ample bosoms as she looked at Dee once more. "Yeah?"

Dee stifled a giggle as they moved on. "…Selph…are you happy here?"

Selphie looked back to Dee with a wry grin and a small frown. "A bit of a strange question to be asking now, right?"

"I know…I mean, that's not…I was just wondering…when we get Daddy and Irvine and Squall and everybody better…"

"What then?" Selphie asked as they neared the end of the carriage, the area where the wall and door was supposed to be replaced with a gaping hole. "Well, we go and catch the little so-and-so's who thought they could pull this off and get away with it! Hands!"

Selphie knelt down on the floor and pushed the upper half of her body over the edge of the opening. As she bent down over the edge, Dee grabbed the ankles of her boots and moved forward slowly, taking all of Selphie's weight as Dee lowered her completely over the edge, so Selphie was looking at the undercarriage. This was the exact spot where the bomb would've been the most efficient to blow apart the carriages whilst moving, and it was impossible to get to it from the outside. It was a good thing Dee was a very strong girl – Selphie would've never been able to hang down like this by herself.

"…That's not what I…I mean, I was wondering if…oh, never mind…" Dee called down to Selphie as she dangled in Dee's arms. "…I just wish Daddy was here."

"I know! He coulda sniffed those bombs out in a second! I swear, Zell must be one part human two parts sniffer-hound!"

* * *

"This isn't right…"

Fujin looked up at Angel as the girl inspected one of the bodies, turning the head left and right, feeling the torso by placing her hands on the ribs and chest, pushing against them to see if there was any give. "Problem?" Fuijin asked.

"…I cant quite tell how this man died."

Fujin frowned at that – before shrugging. "Virus?"

Angel sat back on her haunches, wiping sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand as she did. "That's what I thought at first, but there's no symptoms of the virus…his eyes are fine, his mouth is clean, he's just…dead."

Fujin's frown furrowed deeper as she stood from her body to walk over to Angel's, crouching down next to the girl to inspect the body for herself. Rinoa, looking up to see the other two converseing down the line, quickly got up and joined them, happy for the break in the macabre work. "Whats up?"

"I cant tell how this guy died." Angel explained as Fujin looked at the man's head, pushing and prodding on the skull and cheekbones before twisting his head left and right, inspecting the neck. "I don't think it was the virus either. I cant find any signs of it on his body."

"Erm, yeah…I think I might have found a few like that too." Rinoa confessed sheepishly, blushing in embarrisement as Fujin shot a look up at her. "Hey, I just thought it was the virus, not something else…"

Fujin snorted at that before looking back down at the corpse, slipping her fingers under his neck, feeling along the skin, her eyes narrowing as her gloved hands felt something…peculiar. "Roll." She commanded the others as she slipped her hands under his shoulder, Angel slipping her hands under his hips, Rinoa grabbing his robes and all three girls hefting the dead weight up and over, Rinoa squealing as he fell against her bare legs.

As she scrambled out from under him, brushing her legs clean of the invisible filth and trying not to gag, Angel and Fujin both craned their heads down close to the skin on the nape of the man's neck. Fujin was running her finger across the tattooed flesh again, trying to find what she had found before…before pressing down hard. "There."

"Where?" Angel asked, scooting a little closer as Fujin removed her finger from the skin.

"There." Fujin repeated.

Angel grumbled inwardly. It was so difficult so see anything on the skin thanks to all the damned ink, but slowly she figured it out. Right in the centre of the neck, just over where the spine and the skull met, was a miniscule injection mark, a circle with a dot in the centre.

"What is it?" Rinoa asked.

"…I don't know." Angel replied, heaving a sigh as she leant back again.

"Poison?" Fujin asked. "Suicide?"

"Perhaps…but why?" Angel mused, lifting her hand to rub her chin in thought. "If these guys knew about the virus, why not just become infected with it instead of killing themselves?"

Fujin was silent for a moment – before pointing to the tatooes and grabbing the brown robe. "Nutbags."

Rinoa chuckled at that. Her laughter was cut short, however, as Quistis approached them. "Hey! How did your report to Cid go?"

Quistis looked like she was going to be ill. Her face, usually a healthy pallor, was slightly pale, and her eyes were full of sadness. "Cid…is dead."

"What?!" Angel exclaimed in surprise.

"Explanation." Fujin stated grimly.

Quistis sighed heavily as she folded her arms under her chest, looking down at the bodies surrounding them as she spoke quietly. "…The virus. He fought it for as long as he could, but…it took him soon after we left for Trabia, and he died about three hours ago. Xu has been trying to contact us, but whoever had followed us must've scrambled our communicators."

"No…" Rinoa whispered, her hands to her mouth, tears in her eyes as she tried to keep the horror at bay.

"Plans?" Fujin asked, pushing herself to her feet.

Quistis let out another sigh before clearing her throat, trying to keep her game together. "Matron is going to come and take over for him with Ellone and the White SeeDs. They should be in Galbadia within the hour. In the meantime, Xu recommends checking the security cameras while we still can. See what we can see before and after all this occurred that can shed some light on all this. What have you found so far?"

Angel got up silently, wiping a tear away from her face as she did. "W-we think they're from Galbadia, but we're not so sure…and we think that some had killed themselves during or before the attack."

"Why would they do that?" Quistis remarked curiously.

"Hey hey hey!!"

The four women looked up to see Selphie running at them from the other end of the platform holding what speared to be a briefcase in her hands, her arms outstretched as she ran as if she was trying to keep it as far away from her as possible. Running over piles of corpses isn't all that easy, however, especially when you don't like the sound of their bones crunching as you step on them, so as Selphie neared the four women she got her foot caught in a hood of a robe, the briefcase sailing out of her hands as she wailed out in panic, hitting the bodies as the briefcase landed before the girls and popped open, a mixture of wires, lumps of clay and a bleeping timer greeting them.

Rinoa, Quistis, Angel and Fujin could do nothing but look down at the bomb with sharply increasing panic as they heard the bleeping grow faster and faster, something clicking within the mess of wires, before –

Nothing.

"Sorry." Dee said, running over to the briefcase and picking it up, Selphie gingerly following after her. "Um, we found a bomb."

Rinoa, Quistis, Angel and Fujin all stared at the two girls, the foursome quivering slightly as they felt the sudden shot of adrenaline slowly leave their bodies to be replaced by intense rage. "No shit." Rinoa said flatly, wondering if Dee's reflexes were good enough to catch her Pinwheel from point-blank range…

"Don't worry, I disarmed it. I think." Dee said uncertainly, twisting the briefcase around to look into the mess of wires and rip out a few more with her bare hand…followed by a few more.

"The case and the parts are all Galbadian in make." Selphie said, looking to the case and it's explosive contents. "But the way its all put together was reeeeal sophisticated. Not, like, genius level, like someone from FH…more like an Estharian on a budget."

Quistis frowned at this information, rubbing her chin thoughtfully as she turned to walk away from the others, Rinoa, Angel and Fujin converging on the surprised Dee and Selphie. The sounds of punching and shouts were drowned out by Quistis' brain clicking into overdrive as she began to place all the pieces together.

_Okay…we have Galbadian men dressed in robes and tattooed all over their skin. Their appearance implies a type of religious, ritualistic following. The suicides also imply some kind of ritual being held. Perhaps some type of self-sacrifice? Freaks like these tend to keep to themselves, however – so why have Estharian techniques in bomb-making if you're from Galbadia?_

Quistis turned back to the others. Rinoa was on top of Selphie'a back, yanking on her hair as the smaller girl cried out in pain. Dee had Angel behind her, her arm around her neck and her fist bopping into Dee's head as Dee squared off on Fujin, her fists raised. "Come – ow - on you – ow - one-eyed bitch, come – ow - get some! Ow! Ma!!"

"GUYS!" Quistis called, Rinoa's hair tugging slowly grinding to a halt, Dee's palm pushing Fujin's face up and away as Fujin gripped the lapels of her jacket slowly easing off on the pressure as Quistis gathered all their attention. Even Angel hopped off Dee's back. "We don't have time for petty squabbling. Selphie, Fujin, you two stay here with me. Angel, Rinoa, Dee, you three take a car to Timber. When you get there, I want you to take a look at all the security tapes for this morning. We're looking for any sign of these men. What times they got onto the platform, what times they bought their tickets, numbers, directions they came from, anything you can find. We'll be doing the same here. Alright?"

The four girls before her mumbled their affirmations, Dee straightening her jacket, Fujin correcting her eyepatch, Selphie patting down her hair whilst glaring up to Rinoa who was poking her tongue out at her and Angel smiling sheepishly to Quistis.

Quistis let out a long, slow breath, closing her eyes briefly to stop them from watching her roll them in exasperation. _Squall makes this seem so easy…how he managed to run our rag-tag bunch for so long will always be beyond me._

Then she opened them, determination within her azure gaze. "Then move out already!!"

* * *

Only a few years ago…

_Snow is falling hard as the students dash about, panic filling them as the announcements are called out over the loud speaker systems. The shards of ice are razor sharp, slashing at the children like a Snow Lion's talons as they gathered outside the main building, huddling together for warmth as the clouds rained death down around them._

_One child, only recently joined Garden, excited at the notion of fighting and magic and battling great evil, was crying and wailing along with his fellow classmates as their classroom on the top floor was destroyed by fire from the sky, something roaring from the clouds to slam into the side of the building, detonating within and blowing it apart._

"_Stay together children! Stay together!!" The Instructor cried out over the explosions, ducking down as debris littered the sky. "GROUND! Hit the ground!!"_

_The group flattened as stone and wood and plastic rained down upon them. Children were pummeled by rocks as big as their heads, blood and screams filling the air as the instructor looked up. "Stay together children!! Stay together!!"_

_Suddenly something creaked and exploded, a loud roar filling the sky. The panic everybody was feeling was suddenly heightened as one thought flew through everybody's heads._

_The Training Centre had been blown open._

_And the monsters were free._

_Headmaster Wakka was running within the central square, flanked by three SeeD, racing for the Training Centre. "We haf-ta keep dem monsters in de Trainin' Centre! If you cant scare em off, take em out!" He shouted to the three behind him – _

_Before they were all crushed as something exploded above them, sending a large chunk of ceiling down atop of them._

_Wakka almost dropped his blitzball in shock, the large man shouting out in rage as he turned – to witness all kinds of monster begin to crawl, slither and flit out of the open entrance to the Training Centre. "What'n all of hell is goin' on here already?!" He shouted as he pegged his blitzball at one of the monsters, a mess of tentacles being blown back into the Training Centre, only to be replaced by a set of fangs that leapt at the Headmaster, the ball rebounding into his grasp only a split-second too slow – _

_As a loud bang reported within the great square, the set of fangs alighting into burning flame, shrieking as it fell to the floor, writhing in agony. Wakka turned, his eyes wide, to spy a long figure walking slowly towards him, the rifle in his hands firing again and again, explosions setting off at the door forcing the monsters back, recoiling in fear and pain._

"_Barque!" Wakka cried, holding his hand out for Barque to slap in a classic 'gimme-five' fashion. "Boy, is you a pain in me eyes!"_

_Barque kept the rifle shouldered, the Dincht Mark One kept leveled at the Training Centre entranceway as he spared a second to shoot a look to Wakka with his one good eye. "What are you doing in here?" He shouted, ice falling from his beard as his mouth opened, his hair wild as it hung around his face._

"_I was about to stop dem monsters from scurryin' outta here, but I guess I can get back to gettin' me chillins outta here in one bit! Where all dese missiles comin from, bro?!"_

"_Galbadia. Edea's gone psycho and decided to blow the Gardens to hell and back."_

"_Edea? Whose Edea, bro?" Wakka asked, confused, as another explosion rocked the entire facility. "Wasn't that tool Deling runnin' the show down dere?"_

_Barque looked at Wakka, a pained look in his one eye. "Don't ask too many questions Wak, just get the kids outta here!"_

"_Yea, you'se right bro!" Wakka crowed. "I'mma gonna go make sure the evac points is bein' cleared and dese kids are gettin' outta here!" He began to set out in a jog, before pausing for a moment. "I'se didn't think I'se see youse around Garden again, man! Youse keep yerself in one piece, ya know?!"_

"_Forget about that shit, Wak, it was all bullshit anyways! Just get those damned kids outta here, I'm gonna go check on the dorms, see if there's anybody left alive after the last barriage!"_

_Wakka's eyes went wide as Barque began to run for the dorms. "No dude, dorms are dangerous bro! Bro!!"_

_His words fell on deaf ears as Barque sprinted for the dorms, twisting down corridors and kicking doors in, shouting at anybody he found to get the hell out of here, cursing when he came across empty rooms. He'd holstered his DM1 in his shoulder-holster, slipping the rifle barrel-first over his shoulder into the holster strapped across his back._

_He had cleared the majority of the dorm rooms when he finally came to them – the SeeD quarters. The entire section was in shambles, reduced to nothing but sparking wires and collapsed ceiling and walls. Knick-knacks and pictures were strewn all over the place, chairs and beds ripped to shreds by debris._

_Barque's one good eye surveyed the carnage as his hands pulled his hair back into a ponytail, freeing up his ears to listen. All he could hear was the creaking of the walls, their foundations ruined, the rustles of paper and cloth, distant explosions and the pitiful cries that followed – before his eye widened as he heard something closer…_

_He stepped forward into the rubble, trudging through the ruined stone, to come across a piece of ceiling that had fallen down, propped up against something that was providing it support. He pressed his ear against this piece of rubble, narrowing his eye as he fought to suppress all the other noises outside – before he heard it again._

_A single sob._

_Looking left and right, seeing that there was nobody around, Barque squatted down at the foot of the fallen ceiling. Slipping his fingers down into the rubble, he found the edges of the concrete roof and, curling his fingers around it, lifted it up, the piece of rubble groaning and creaking, pieces of it falling off the edges and dust filling the air as he pushed the massive slab up with a grunt, before extending his arms fully, lifting the ceiling high up into the air, at least ten tons supported by him and him alone._

_With pebbles and dust falling around him, he looked at what was behind the wall._

_A missile, long and smooth, thick and wide, was jutting out of the ground, it's pointed tip only just buried into the ground. It had travelled all the way from Galbadia to Trabia only to have the ceiling slow it's descent just enough for it not to go off._

_Barque could see what was making the sobbing noise. A man, satting haphazardly on the ground, his massive shoulders heaving as he wept. He was covered in dust, his shirt torn and ruined, blood seeping from the many injuries he had sustained when the ceiling had collapsed. He had something in his arms…something that was bleeding._

"_Julius." Barque called, causing the man to turn his head slightly towards him. "Leave her boy. She's already gone."_

_Julius looked down at the dead Veronica in his arms and felt nothing but intese despair. "S-she's dead…she's dead and I'm not…"_

"_I know, boy. But you have to keep going."_

"_I cant…I cant keep going w-without her…"_

_Barque let out an irritated grunt, lowering one of his arms to grip the boy's neck. He wrenched the boy back, causing him to scream out in pain and rage as he flew back out into the corridor. The boy recovered quickly, blood spilling from his wounds as he cried out, seeing the lifeless body of his loved one lying there all alone, and raced forward to be with her again – _

_Before Barque dropped the ceiling back down, sealing Julius off from his loved one._

_The boy slammed into the stone with a wet splat, blood smearing on the wall as he slid down it, before he hooked his hands under the edges and tried to lift it, straining and grunting as he tried to move the immovable – before Barque suddenly grabbed him again, gripping him by the throat, lifting him up high, casting his single eye upon the boy with a mix of anger and contempt. "What are you doing boy?!" He roared._

"_S-she's s-still i-in there..." Julius wheezed as he grabbed and hit at Barque's arm, the old man's muscles like solid iron, his grip immovable._

"_She's dead boy! Her body was crushed by the missile! There is nothing you can do for her at this moment, but…!" _

_Julius let out a pitiful wail, his arms going limp, resigning himself to his death at the hands of this strange, tattooed man – before the old man slammed his head into the wall behind him, causing his eyes to focus on him. "Nothing you can do for her at this moment, BUT…you can still save her!"_

_The boy was locked in the man's grip, snorting blood onto his hand and wrist. "W-what?! That's…impossible!"_

_This seemed to make his attacker angry. Julius groaned as the old man'd grip tightened around his throat, slowly crushing his larynx as his head was pushed against the wall, the stone cracking underneath the immense pressure. "Nothing is impossible boy! Nothing at all! Even death can be overcome – fuck, death can be made insignificant!! You just need to keep your faith! You just need to believe that you will get her back one day!"_

_Julius's grip on the old man's arm was beginning to weaken. "H-how-w…?"_

_Barque dropped the boy then, Julius hitting the ruined ground with a spluttered cough, blood splattering onto the ground as Barque spoke. "The way will find you, boy. Eventually, it'll find you. It might take days, weeks, even perhaps years. But you'll get your woman back, and you'll feel her warm touch again. All you need to do is believe that it will happen." _

_Barque's one eye flashed in the light as Julius looked up to him, standing strong and steady in such a bleak and desolute setting…and yet, a sense of destiny suddenly overwhelmed him, causing him to move to his feet, causing him to look back at the old man, stare him into his one good eye and speak with no pain, but determination._

"_How?" He croaked, his voice betraying the state his body was in._

"_Later. For now we need to get you patched up and…"_

"_There he is!" Someone suddenly shouted, causing Barque to twirl to the source – and swear violently as he saw Faculty members begin to pour into the area, their big flat hats and flowing cloaks contrasting with the ruins they occupied._

"_Damn you Cid!" Barque roared as he tore the Dincht Mark One from it's holster and begin to fire on the approaching men…_

* * *

_Obviously the two parts concerning Barque isn't happening at the same time as the usual gang. These little tid-bits are here to flesh out Barque a little more, letting you know just who he is, and how much influence he has on the world and the story._

_I apologize for the lateness of the chapter and any spelling errors, as usual. It was going to be bigger, but…_

_Well, you'll see in the next chapter._


	5. Shock

Chapter 5 – Shock

The trip to Timber was fairly uneventful. After leaving the Great Plains for the Monterosa Plateau, ducking quickly through the Yaulny Canyon, the beautiful forests of Timber began to spring into view. Soon Angel, Dee and Rinoa were flying through the forests, their car hurtling down the empty road.

The most action they had seen was at the Gardens as they'd whipped past them, Rinoa's foot firmly planted on the accelerator. They had no time for a pit-stop, especially now, but Dee and Angel still craned out of the car to watch the flurry of movement within the facilities. People were rushing about between the two Gardens, the bodies already being taken out of both of them for 'processing'. Galbadia Garden was the biggest of all the Gardens, but with Balamb next to them, it was pandemonium as all the women of both Gardens tried to figure out what to do.

The girls talked little as Rinoa drove, half because they didn't know what to say, half because Rinoa was driving like a maniac. Any cars still on the road she swerved violently to avoid, the engine roaring as she shifted gears almost as mechanically as the car itself, like she was a part of it. Some of the cars were nothing more then burning wrecks, men driving places, trucks overturned on the side of the road, cars rolled to a stop on the side of the road, smashed into lamp-posts or walls...

What was there to say? Even Rinoa, determined as she was, stole a glance back to Balamb Garden in the rear vision mirror as they rushed past, the massive structure growing smaller and smaller as they sped forward. They all knew what was going on in each others heads – why? And, if not why...

They passed another car, this one with a woman sitting beside it, her dead husband in her arms, still holding him even after so long. A few SeeD students, sent down the road to look for any survivors, stood beside the wreckage, one talking into the radio the other carried on her back as the third crouched beside the woman, rubbing her back and speaking to her. The woman didn't look up until the car screamed past her, her hair whipping up with the wind, two faces peering back at her and getting sucked into those desolate eyes...

...When?

Rinoa suddenly switched on the radio. The usual sound of music was replaced by a female voice, talking in a calm, clear voice.

"_Attention all residents of Galbadia. The cause of this epidemic is still unknown. If you have a male family member or friend who has been incapacitated by this illness, please take them to the nearest hospital, community centre or Garden. All deceased must be laid outside their house of residence for pickup. Failure to comply will risk the spread of disease. Anybody unwilling to relinquish their deceased may be forced to do so – repeat, anybody unwilling to relinquish their deceased may be for -"_

Rinoa's slender finger stabbed onto the CD button, a CD loading from the stacker within the trunk of the Garden Car, playing something blissfully inane.

* * *

It was almost dark when they finally reached Timber. People continued to mill in the streets, causing Rinoa to slow down for the first time in at least three hours, quietly switching off the CD player as they approached the crowds.

Dee and Angel watched, helpless, as a large convoy of trucks carrying corpses cut across the road they were travelling down, the crowds filling the street parting to the side of the road to allow them passage. The roadside was flanked with many woman, almost shoulder to shoulder, young girls holding the hands of their mothers and sisters as they weeped openly, saying goodbye to their loved ones, fathers, brothers, sons...

Dee spoke quietly, breaking the silence brewing. "Its...its really bad...isn't it?"

"...Yep." Rinoa muttered.

"...Really bad..." Dee whispered again as she watched a mother collapse on the pavement, tears streaming down her face as her daughters, no more then ten each, helped her back up. Her wailing rose up above the other cries emanating from the crowds, possibly because Dee was looking specifically at her, and the young girl let her eyes fall to Rinoa's hair, still impossibly shining even in the street-lamp lights. "...Rinoa, could....could you turn the music back on?"

Rinoa's tresses didn't seem to shift one hair...before she slowly reached over to press the CD button again, some classical music ringing deep from the speakers, the music barely covering the lament outside the car as she pressed the volume button up.

* * *

The deeper they went into Timber, the less people they saw. The street-lights began to flicker on automatically, one by one, as they drove further, the people on the sides of the road shuffling along with their heads down. They were the slower of the crowds, the elderly, people who knew about death and pain. Dee watched as they looked up briefly at the car before looking back down, shuffling along slowly, one foot at a time. "...How far until the train station?" She asked nobody in particular.

"Not long now..." Rinoa said quietly.

Turning a corner, the train station fell into view. Basically just a massive platform that sat in the middle of a large open ground within the centre of the town, there wasn't much to be said about the Timber Train Station. White cobblestones covered the ground, with neatly shined railings cordoning off the more dangerous areas of the rails. There was a large warehouse injected directly between all the little shops which surrounded the square where the trains and carriages were stored and repaired, and it was this that Rinoa aimed for. Driving up onto the empty walkway, the car roared across the open square before screeching to a halt before the massive warehouse doors, large treated red oak monoliths which kept vandals and hoodlums out of the train-yard.

Everybody got out of the car, Rinoa pressing her door shut as Dee leapt out of the back beside her. The raven-haired sorceress looked to the other girls. "Just give me a minute. There's still some freedom fighters floating around, and I need to make sure the coast is clear." With that, she walked towards the big doors, specifically to a smaller door built into the bottom of the left near the centre, and knocked on it haphazardly, as if knocking out a code.

She stood back and waited, crossing her arms under her chest as she did. Dee looked over to Angel. "...I thought that Timber was its own place now. Daddy said that it had its independence or something."

Angel nodded. "It does...but a lot of Galbadians think it was a bad idea for President Justice to give them back their independence. Galbadians are...a very opinionated people, and as such make...a lot of disagreements with the world. In general."

"Well, if the people didn't like the President giving independence away, why did they vote him into office?"

"...That another story. The President before President Justice was just as opinionated as the Galbadian people were, but...well, its like when your father and Irvine talk about cars. Its a subject they both like, but they both have different opinions about them, and they can have quite heated...discussions about them. And you know what happens then?"

"Daddy helps Uncle Irvine eats his ammunition."

"Yes." Angel said, nodding with an embarrassed smile at the memory as it played out again in her mind. "...Yes he does."

As this discussion played out, Rinoa waited impatiently by the door, chewing on her bottom lip as she tapped her foot. Men were dying all over the world and she was following procedure. A part of her wanted to bust the door down, but she knew this woman – if she did something like that she'd never get what she wanted.

She went to try the secret knock again, raising her fist to start rapping it against the door again – before the door opened, slowly, a large woman standing behind it with one beefy hand gripping the door-knob tightly. She was tall, over seven feet tall, muscular, with a thick neck and gigantic biceps. White hair surrounded her dirty face, smeared with dust and grease, some of which had ingrained themselves into the crows-feet around her eyes, which were grey like stone. She looked like an angry slab of oestrogen-fuelled meat, and as she looked down to Rinoa recognition glinted within her flinty eyes. "...Little Rin?"

"Hi Heidi." Rinoa said with a smile and a wave. "Can we come in?" She half-turned and waved her hand over to Dee and Angel, who both looked up at the woman with open mouths. "We need to check some stuff out on the train cameras."

"About the men all dying?" Heidi asked, gripping the edge of the door with her free hand for a moment as she looked down to the raven-haired sorceresses with awe – before opening the door fully, standing aside to wave them in. "Then please, come in!"

Rinoa turned and beckoned Dee and Angel to her quickly as Heidi turned and disappeared into the warehouse. Rinoa spoke through clenched teeth, lifting her hand to shield her mouth from the massive woman as she muttered to the girls. "Heidi's guarded the train station against Galbaidian invaders for longer then anybody cares to remember, and she gets offended easily if you don't show her respect because of it, so be careful of what you say to her or do around her."

Dee and Angel both nodded in unison. "I wouldn't wanna get on her bad side..." Dee whispered as she looked about the train-yard, marvelling at the gigantic open space. The trains were all lined up neatly on the other end of the warehouse, some in the middle of maintenance, others just sitting and waiting to be put onto the tracks. Directly in the centre of the yard was a small building, the structure seeming to have been erected from scraps from discarded trains – the walls were made of the train's side panels, the railings were from the train's safety railing, the steps leading up to the door were made of small sections of train-track, all placed up upon one another. It was quite a bizarre sight, made even more-so when Heidi pushed the door open with a bang, a small tray with several cups of steaming liquid resting upon it held in her gigantic hand. She gingerly walked down the train-track, carrying the tray before her as she approached the SeeDs and presented them with the tray's contents.

"Cup of tea?"

The girls all smiled politely, each taking one of the teacups and holding onto the saucer beneath it as well. Rinoa accepted her tea with a small thank you before speaking up as Heidi straighted up. "Er, Heidi, about the cameras...?"

"The computers are booting up, dear." Heidi said in her booming voice. "They'll be ready in a minute. You all look quite frazzled, though, so drink up! It'll make you feel better."

"Thank-you very much..." Angel said politely, sipping at her tea.

"May I have one of those biscuits?" Dee asked, looking down at the assortment of cookies that had been spread onto the tray.

"Help yourself to as many as you want, dear." Heidi replied with a smile, the walls only shaking slightly.

Dee grabbed a handful and began to munch on them, her chewing loud against the silence that followed. Angel sipped her tea and looked about the train-yard, Rinoa obviously trying to keep her impatience in check as she gulped her tea noisily, downing it all within the span of a few seconds, clattering the cup against the saucer as she placed it back against the tray. "Boy, I really needed that! Now, the cameras..."

"Would you like another, dear?" Heidi said, cutting her off almost expertly, looking down at her expectantly.

Rinoa sighed, a hint of irritation peppering her reluctant "Yes please.", to which Heidi placed her hands together with glee and walked back into the shack, shutting the door behind her gently. Dee placed her cup down against the saucer and poked Rinoa in the rib.

"Oi, why cant we see the cameras yet?"

"Because," Rinoa growled, crossing her arms under her chest, "If we barge around acting like we own the place, Heidi's kill-sense will kick in and we'll get pummelled. Like I said, she kept the Galbadian invaders off the train lines _all by herself _for a very long time – she's like a steroid-abusing Behemoth on pure crack when she fights, but as meek as a kitten when normal."

"Wow." Dee breathed. "Impressive."

"She seems to be taking everything in stride fairly well as well..." Angel said.

"Well, its probably the medication, but she's also a raging..." Rinoa stopped herself, glancing to Dee before looking to Angel a little sheepishly. "...Well, you know."

"Know what?" Dee asked, chewing noisily on a biscuit, looking back and forth from Angel to Rinoa.

Rinoa sighed, placing her palm to her face. "You're gonna make me say it...you know, she's into batting for the other team."

A blank face met Rinoa's gaze. "Shes a friend of dorothy? Interested in wheelbarrows? On the other bus? She drinks from the furry cup!"

Angel began to laugh out loud, unable to hold in her chuckles as Dee looked from the exasperated Rinoa to the hysterical Angel in oblivious confusion. "What cup? This one? I don't get it..."

"Ah forget about it..." Rinoa said dismissively, waving her hand at Dee in exasperation. Angel turned away then, placing a hand to her mouth, trying to surpress her laughter...but for some reason she couldn't. She was compelled to laugh, her laughter beginning to become more erratic, her eyes wide as she fought to control herself, but found herself unable to. Her eyes darted to Rinoa and Dee, who looked to Angel with their own wide-eyed stare – before running to her side, Rinoa catching her as she half-fell into her arms, pulling her to a chair as Dee jumped to her side. "There there honey, its okay..." Rinoa whispered as she began to stroke Angel's hair

"Whats wrong with her?! Whats wrong with you?!" Dee exclaimed, her voice cracking

"I – I d – I don't – I dont know!" Angel managed to choke out as her body trembled, the laughter now replaced with an uncontrollable shaking, her hands coming around to rub her upper arms, clenching them tightly, as if her chest was about to burst.

"She's starting to go into shock." Rinoa said, turning and hollering out to the shack behind them. "Heidi! We need some help!!" She yelled – before her face fell, slamming her palm into her forehead. "Ah crap..."

Immediantly the door to the shack was blown off its hinges, flying over the girl's heads to slam into the massive wooden doors behind them. Heidi leapt out of the shack and slammed into the ground before them, her flinty eyes blazing with rage, veins bubbling with power as they stood out of her arms and neck, her meaty fists balled knuckle-white. "Where are they dear?! I'll _destroy_ them!!" She roared, all the girl's hair flowing back in the wind as they all blinked up at the massive tea-delivering train-yard security/maintenance woman.

"No! Stand down Heidi!" Rinoa shouted, leaping in front of her and placing her hands on her beefy stomach, pushing her back as she started to stalk about the train-yard. "Angel's going into shock, we need something to help her calm down!!"

It was a complete one-eighty, Heidi's mood going from slavering beast to meek kitten in a heartbeat. "Well, why didn't you say so, dear?" She boomed gently, the veins in her muscles dissapearing as she patted Rinoa gently on the head before turning to Angel, crouching down before her to watch her hyperventilate. "Oh dear, you're in a state! Come now, a nice cup of cocoa and somewhere more comfortable to sit is what you need."

Dee couldn't tell if Angel was still in shock or fearing for her life, the fledgling sorceress being picked up and cradled in Heidi's arms like a child before being carried away, off into the shack, Heidi tutting to herself at the state of the door for only a moment before stepping in. She called out to Rinoa and Dee from within. "You can come in now, I've tidied up. Oh, your cameras are ready as well."

* * *

The massive woman deposited Angel onto a large, plush chair situated within the middle of the shack, which faced a wall made entirely out of television screens, all of which were filming different sections of the trains and the train platform. Behind the chair was a small kitchenette, with a sink and a kettle, a pot bursting full of tea-bags sitting beside the kettle. A little fridge sat on the left of the kitchenette counter, a small CB radio sitting atop it. A door on the left of the wall of televisions seemed to lead into a bedroom, a gigantic yet neatly made cot sitting in the centre of the room. Heidi went into this room and pulled the thick blanket off the top of the bed, taking a moment to straighten out the sheets again before walking back into the main room, wrapping the blanket around Angel and tucking her in tight. "There you go dear, snug as a bug,." She said with a grin before walking over to the kitchen and, taking the kettle up with thumb and forefinger, filled it up from the sink.

As she brewed four cups of cocoa, daintily tearing open the sachets to tip them into the mugs, Rinoa sat down in front of the televisions, grabbing an electronic tablet from the side of the plush chair Angel rested in, the thick cord coiling along the ground to lead behind the televisions. She begins to tap the tablet with her fingers, the image on the televisions flicking breifly before changing – what had been completely empty platforms transformed into a busy station, bustling with people. "Okay. We're lucky, Heidi can only store a day or so of recordings into the computer before it gets erased – we should be able to see what happened this morning fairly well."

Dee sat on the edge of the chair in the centre of the room, looking down at Angel with a worried expression on her face. Although she had stopped shaking, she had begun to go quite pale. "Ma...you alright now?"

Angel glanced up to Dee, shooting her a weak smile and lifting her hand out from beneath the blanket to pat the girl's hand reassuringly. "...I've been better."

"What happened?" Dee asked quizzically. "One sec you were fine, the next..."

"It all just got too much for her, that's all." Rinoa said, her eyes fixed to the screen, scanning for any of the strange Browncoats which had attacked them on the train earlier. "The men, losing our lead, the...the boys." Rinoa said hesitantly, looking back to Angel, a sympathising look in her eyes. "... Some take everything in stride, and some...buckle."

Angel ducked into her blanket a little as Heidi handed her her cocoa. "...It just got all too much for a moment. I'm fine now." She said softly. "...I'm fine now..."

She had been taught about shell shock, battle fatigue, post traumatic stress disorder, whatever it was called in the SeeD manual. She'd even prepared herself for it. She wasn't stupid, she knew it was going to happen eventually....she just never guessed it would be this soon. Now she had calmed down, she actually felt embarrassed – she was supposed to be a SeeD, an elite warrior. This sort of thing wasn't supposed to happen to elite warriors...at least, it didn't happen to Zell...

Dee, satisfied her mother was going to be okay, accepted her cocoa from Heidi with a small smile, before looking to the TV screens. "Hey, isn't that them?!"

Rinoa had been rubbing Angel's leg gently, looking up to her and smiling apologetically, understanding what it was like to freak out occasionally when things got out of control – but her head snapped around when Dee shouted, spying the Browncoats arriving on the platform from a train coming from the north-west. "They're on the Deling City line." She said, looking at the time-mark on the bottom right corner of the TV screen they were on. "That's about two hours before your train even left."

There were around ten men, all dressed in brown coats and thick military boots, each with dark hoods pulled over their heads. Some carried weapons, others carried briefcases – the bombs. They stood in the middle of the platform, not talking to anybody, only talking amongst themselves. About half an hour after they arrived, several more Browncoats appeared from the crowds, joining them by shaking hands and giving hugs. Rinoa fast-forward through it all, people coming and going from the platform by the dozens, trains coming and going – but the group remained, growing larger, more and more Browncoats coming from the northern lines until their group was over twenty-strong.

"There's our train..." Angel whispered, pointing to one of the trains pulling in to the station. They knew it was theirs because of the bows and wreathes attached to the locamotive, as well as the first cabin, signifying the wedding taking place soon. Angel bit her lip in the effort to fight back tears. _It was supposed to be such a happy day.._

Three men disembarked from the train, spoke to the group on the platform for a few moments, before they all got on. Rinoa noted the time mentally before standing up to turn to Heidi. "Could you tell me where the nearest telephone is, please?"

As Heidi led Rinoa out to the train-yard telephone-box affixed to the outside of the warehouse, Dee grabbed the tablet, sitting back down next to Angel. Pressing fast forward, the girl watched everything speed up, her eyes darting to and fro from screen to screen. "What are you looking for?" Angel asked – before Dee pressed play.

On the screen, Zell came bolting down the train tracks, jumping onto the platform and bolting through the crowds, people being knocked aside like chaff in the wind as he slid down the escalator. Angel's eyes were wide in wonder as he jumped into the Kisaragi, used a bit of 'Dincht Magic' as he would call it, and sped off after the train.

"He was in a hurry..." Dee said with a grin, looking down to Angel, who was smiling through her tears.

"Yes he was..." She whispered, wiping the tears away with the palm of her hand – before gasping as the screen became filled with terror. As soon as Zell had vanished from the screens, all the men on the platform began to cough, splutter, then keel over, twitching spasmodically as their women crouched beside them or stood over them, some shrieking in horror, others shaking them and trying to rouse them, others running to find help. "T-turn it off..." Angel gasped, grabbing the tablet from Dee's hands and stabbing her finger on the stop button so hard it cracked the screen.

She threw the tablet away, letting it clatter to the ground before pulling her knees up to her chest, hugging them to her tightly as Dee put her arms around her, her own tears flowing as she apologised to her surrogate mother, telling her everything will be alright...

* * *

"That's the time." Rinoa said into the phone, Heidi craning down to look at her within the darkness, the two women light only by the one street-light hanging over the telephone box. "Try cross-referencing it to some street cameras leading to Deling Station. You might be able to figure out where they are coming from."

"_I know the procedure, Rinoa. Thanks."_ Quistis replied curtly from the other end of the phone, causing Rinoa to grit her teeth. She listened to Quistis say something to Selphie, waiting patiently. _"Whats it like over there?"_ Quistis asked suddenly. _"You made good time."_

"Oh, you know..." Rinoa said sullenly. "...Death and mayhem everywhere. Its all quite peachy."

"_I sense a bit of friction from you, Rinoa."_ Quistis said. _"This is hard on all of us, you know."_

"You think I dont know that?!" Rinoa growled into the phone...before taking a deep breath, waving her hand as if to push her anger away. "This isn't productive. We shouldn't be fighting..."

As her voice trailed off Quistis replied, her voice a little quieter. _"...I know. I'm sorry. I just..."_ She paused breifly. _"...I dont know how you all did it..."_

"And thats definitely not productive." Rinoa said suddenly, cutting her off. "We need you to stay strong, Quis. You're leader now."

Quistis remained silent. Rinoa wondered if she had said the wrong thing briefly, but before she could ask her if she was alright, Quistis spoke up, her voice a little cold. _"We have them. Selphie tracked their progress from the train to the outskirts of the city. According to the Deling official here, they come from an castle that was finished being built about six months ago, just outside the city limits, so technically its on Galbadian soil, but not part of any Deling City amenities."_

Rinoa waited with baited breath as Quistis excused herself for a second to talk to the official. This was the break they needed, she knew it!

The excitement in Quistis' voice said it all. _"...According to the Deling offical, as well as some Galbadian SeeDs here, its occupied by a group of agoraphobic people who believe that Universal travel will bring the end of the world."_

"Gotcha!" Rinoa exclaimed in excitement. _I'll be speaking to you soon, Squall! _She thought to herself. "We'll start on our way back right now!"

"_Dont bother. Galbadia Garden and the Galbadian Military seems to have things secure here – i'll send Balamb Garden down to you. It'll be quicker then you driving back."_

"Wow, thanks Quistis! We'll head off now, meet them down the road. We have no time to waste!"

* * *

Less then an hour later, Rinoa, Dee and Angel had boarded the Balamb Garden and were working within the infirmary. As they had entered Dr. Kadowaki had approached them all. She looked gaunt and pale, exhausted from dealing with the crisis for so long. "Just so you all know, the boys haven't gotten any better, so don't ask, and we still don't know what's causing this – so I need you to scrub up and help out as best you can."

"But..." Rinoa started, looking down the infirmary to see if she could see Squall -

"No buts!" Dr. Kadowaki screeched, causing them all to jump. "We are in a crisis and we cant afford to let three pairs of hands go un-empty, so take a body and do what you can!"

Seeing as Zell and Squall already had people attending them, Rinoa, Dee and Angel had to help others. There weren't much left – many of the boys who had held on the longest were the oldest SeeDs, their sweats and frothing mouths swept and cooled dilligently. A lot of the younger children hadn't made it, a pile of body bags lying in the side of the room. There were groups of girls forming chains to take them out to the Quad, laying them all out side by side – they had only just began to double-stack when the girls had arrived. Although Rinoa had desperately wanted to stay by Squall's side, she allowed Angel to work in the infirmary, tending to the sick men but keeping one eye on the women circling Zell's supine form, constantly checking his breathing and IV drips.

The work quickly sapped Rinoa's good spirit at finding the lead. Each bag her and Dee carried outside contained a small child. Dee worked without saying one word – neither did any of the other SeeDs and students who had been assigned the task.

What was there to say?

* * *

For the first time in what seemed like days, Rinoa spoke up as Dee and her walked away from the Quad. "...Cant wait to get out of here..."

"Tell me about it..." Dee replied, her chin jutting out, trying to keep the tears inside.

It was something they would not want to talk about again for a long time.

As they entered the main hall and started to walk down to the Infirmary, Rinoa's eyes widened as she spied someone walking in from the Foyer. "...Matron?"

Matron Edea still looked as beautiful as she had when Ultimecia had taken over her. She had traded in her skin-tight silk dress for a grey smock, her hair long and flowing behind her, impossibly straight. She had her hands clasped tightly before her, her eyes locked to the ground. She was flanked with several White SeeDs, who parted, all bowing before Rinoa as she approached Edea. "Matron..." Rinoa breathed.

Matron looked up to look deep into Rinoa's eyes, and then Rinoa felt true anguish. The pain that Edea contained in her eyes fell all the way down into the pit of her soul, and it took all of Rinoa's strength to choke back a sob. The older woman placed her hand on Rinoa's shoulder, touching her forehead to hers – before walking past, elegant and gracious once more, alighting the stairs to the elevator, disappearing within flanked by her White SeeDs.

"Oh sweet Hyne..." Rinoa whispered, stumbling back to let Dee catch her. "...Let us find a way..."

* * *

Quistis looked up to see Rinoa, Dee and Angel drive up in the Garden car. Selphie and Fujin stood back from where they had been conferring with the G-SeeDs on the side of the road. There were several cars parked outside the very thick, very tall, very _shut_ drawbridge. Quistis drew in a breath as she watched the girls exit their car – the dawn was quickly approaching, and none of them had had any rest whatsoever. "Hi guys." She called. "Gather here."

Quistis, Selphie and Fujin had been working all night, digging through records and deeds, finding out everything they could about the castle that stood before them, ominous in the slowly receding twilight. After they had done, they had helped the G-SeeDs begin their headcount along with the Galbadian military, so figure out something resembling a body-count. Their night had been just as arduous as the others. All the women looked at one another, each noting the unbrushed hair, the unkept clothing, the smell eminating from all of them...

"Here's the facts. This land was bought by a wealthy Estharian about a year ago. He paid in full, no reason given other then his statement of the world ending because of the Universal War and the Universals that were visiting. He didn't seem to be a danger, however, so people just ignored him as an eccentric. Plus, he began to employ a lot of people from the city – it was easy money, close to home, plus it was a bit of a tourist attraction, so the government turned a blind eye as well."

The rest of the girls all looked down at the papers before Quistis. They all looked beaten, exhausted. _They dont need to know the fine details. _Quistis scolded herself. _Just tell them the plan._

"Okay. What we're going to do is..."

She was interuppted by a student, the young girl sprinting up to the group, everybody raising their weary heads to look at her. She was gasping for breath, sweat pouring from her face, her hair in tangles around her face. Quistis vaugely recognised her as one of her students. "...Cara. What is it?"

"Instructor..." Cara gasped. "...Its...Its Commander Squall...he's..."

Rinoa's eyes went wide – before they burst into white flame, her wings billowing out from her back to fling themselves down, shooting her up into the air and away, papers flying everywhere.

Quistis just kept looking down to Cara, unaware of the shock and anguish that was moving through the group. "...And the rest?" She asked quietly, almost reassigning herself to the news.

Cara looked up to her from where she was leaning on her haunches, still gasping for air – before shaking her head and letting her face drop. "...And the rest."

* * *

_Wow, finally got this one out. Thank you for all your patience and support. I apologise for any spelling or grammer errors, and I hope to update again soon. How is my drama? Its been so long i think i might have forgotten to write!!  
_


	6. No Time At All

Chapter 6 – No Time At All

Over twenty years ago...

* * *

"_Barque, please get the door for me, my arms are full!" Edea cried, two screaming babies in each arm._

_Barque pushed himself to his feet and doffed his shirt, tossing it into the corner, the sweet stench of baby vomit wafting along with it. He poked his finger to the tiny tot in front of him that he'd been trying to feed - "I'll get back to you, buddy." - and walked over to the front door of the orphanage._

_Outside it was blowing a gale. Rain slammed down upon the ground in sheets, the wind tore at the ancient stone which made the orphanage. The night sky was thick with thunderclouds, lightening shrieking down from the heavens to cut the ocean apart, sending light across the peninsula as Barque pulled the door open, scowling at the rain as it beat down on his shirtless body. Not seeming to mind the biting cold, he quickly shut the door behind him before walking forward, looking down the columned path leading up from the beach._

_A dark figure staggered in the wind, the rain and darkness obscuring any real shape. Barque narrowed his eyes – monsters were rife on this continent, and he had thought he'd discouraged any from getting this close to the orphanage again. He took a step forward, about to set out to investigate further – before he heard the first cries._

_Wheeling around, he looked down behind one of the large marbles pillars flanking the thick oak door to see a bundle of cloth, dripping wet and squirming in the darkness. Flashes of light lit up the sky like explosions as he knelt down to pick up the bundle and heard the squalling youth wrapped within._

_He turned and pushed the door open in a flash, kicking it closed behind him as he made his way to the fire, kneeling beside it as Edea entered the room. "Barque, what is it?" She asked._

"_Looks like we got a new delivery..." He said with a smile, peeling the wet blankets off the baby to reveal a boy, barely born, his little fists balled tightly as he screamed bloody murder._

_Edea smiled and cooed as she took him from Barque's arms. "My gods, it looks like he's only been born! But the nearest settlement from here is at least half a days walk – did you see a car or a boat out on the beach?" She asked Barque, looking up at the older man, seeing him dripping wet and shivering – but something told her it wasn't from the cold. "Barque, whats wrong?"_

"_...His eyes..." The old fist-fighter whispered._

"_Yes, they're a delightful shade of blue aren't they?" Edea said giddily, rocking the boy to and fro as he began to warm up before the fire. "And look at this lovely shock of blond hair, isn't it adorable..." She continued, looking up – to watch Barque's naked back disappear out the door, the massive oak left wide open, letting the screaming storm into the orphanage. Still cradling the youth in her arms, the raven haired woman jumped to her feet and rushed to the door, having to press her back against the thick wood and push with all her might to shut it, the screaming wind and rain matching the squall of the child in her arms._

_Outside, Barque ran with unbelievable speed, leaping over a giant rock jutting from the ground and vaulting over a felled tree as he came to the point where he'd seen the dark shape disappear. He looked left and right, his eyes wild, the rainwater dripping from his face and rolling out of his beard – before lightening illuminated the world for the briefest of seconds, revealing a man staggering down the sodden path towards the beach._

_Barque was on him in an instant, erupting from his spot to slam into his back in an instant, the two men tumbling down the steep incline all the way down to the beach. The rain thundered down upon them as the thunder shook the very earth they stood on, lightening slashing down to show the man the wild look in the tattooed man's face. The man wouldn't have been even twenty, his face ashen and grey._

"_Where did you get the boy? Is he yours?" Barque roared over the rain, gripping the man's coat tightly in both fists and shaking him viciously. "Answer me!"_

_The man couldn't say a word but lift a trembling finger to point towards the sea._

"_What? What is it?" Barque cried, looking up...to see it._

_A massive ship loomed out of the sea, its wooden decking and hull smashed almost to smithereens, the monolithic structure being smashed again and again by the waves of the ocean. Barque could see the tiny dingy that the man had taken to get to shore. Smoke was billowing out of the hull, and in the darkness Barque could see several spot fires within the center of the hull._

"_S-she made me...she m-made me p-promise..." The man whimpered, to which Barque snapped his attention yet again._

"_Who are you? Are you the boy's father?"_

"_N-no...n-not m-me..."_

"_Then who, damn you! Who was the mother? I want a name!" Barque bellowed over the thunder – only to feel the man shudder under his hands, his head lolling back before his body fell still._

_Barque dropped him to the ground before ripping open his coat – to reveal the massive injuries that man had sustained, burns covering the majority of his body as well as a sizable chunk of flesh missing from the lower right portion of his torso, and as the lightening flashed again, Barque looked down at his hands and chest to see them covered in crimson._

"_You bastard..." Barque breathed, his words swallowed by the wind. "You poor brave bastard...thank you...thank you so much." He whispered, kneeling down again and sweeping the body up into a hug, crushing the dead man to him. "...You did a good thing today boy..." He whispered into the dead man's ear as rain washed over the both of them. "...A real good thing.."_

_He carried the body back to the dingy, placing it gently onto it before pushing it out into the smashing waves, watching as it was taken out into the wide open sea. The salt water washed the blood from his body, but he wasn't done yet. He set forth into the ocean, the pouring rain churning the sea almost into foam were it not for the waves washing them out, and as he neared the destroyed hulk he dove down under the water, the waves seeming to not heed him at all._

_Suddenly the monolithic hulk rocked in the water, like some great beast had shifted it off its back, and the waves snapped it in two, crushing it down into a billion pieces and sucking it out into the great depths. Slowly Barque swam to the shore, emerging from the sea and walking out into the rain sodden sand, pausing to look out at the last pieces of the ship as it disappeared under the water, flashes of lightening framing its descent before the bottomless depths claimed it forever._

_He made his way back to the orphanage slowly, soaked to the bone, now visibly shaking, and when he approached the orphanage he had to stop at the doorway to compose himself before entering. Edea was there and ready with a warmed towel and a blanket for him to dry and warm himself, her questions going unanswered for so long that she would eventually give up, the two of them sitting before the fire and the tiny cot before it, staking claim to their new prize. Only the crackle of the fire and the soft sounds of the baby breathing filled the silence within the room, Edea rocking the cot slowly and methodically, Barque sitting back wrapped in a blanket, his sodden beard steaming from the fire, beads of persperation seeming to form around his tattooed face._

"_He's bouncing back from his little ordeal quite well...I've already fed him...took him a while to calm but he eventually feel asleep...i must say...he has a zest for life..." She whispered, gently rocking the cot to and fro, watching the little baby sleep._

_Barque said nothing, only looking down at the boy with a blank expression for a moment before looking back to the flame._

"_Zest for life...How about Zell for a name? Zest, Zell...fitting, don't you think?" She continued, smiling gently down to the boy._

"_...Aye." Barque agreed with a small nod, before standing. "...I think...I think I need to go to bed now."_

"_Barque...are you alright?" Edea called to him as he made his way to their room, watching as he paused at the door..._

_

* * *

_

Quistis burst into the infirmary, her eyes full of tears. Pandemonium filled the room – Rinoa, still in Angel form, had four students holding her back, their arms clawing for purchase as her wings flapping erratically, fighting against them, screaming out telepathically and causing everybody around her to cringe in pain. She twisted around, throwing one student off one of her wings by extending it out fully, the girl flying across the room to collapse against several stretchers, bodies spilling onto the ground as she crumpled to the floor. Gritting her teeth, the sorceress let out a sudden burst of electricity, the shock causing the rest of the students to release her – before she leapt back onto a stretcher and began to blast Full Life down into the body she straddled, again and again, her glowing tears streaming down her face.

Quistis was pushed forward by a rushing Selphie, the smaller girl almost knocking her down as she ran down the aisle...to ignore Rinoa completely but simply collapse as she ran, falling to the floor in a sobbing fit, sliding on the smooth cold floor to a limp stop.

Angel and Dee were next. Angel stood beside Quistis, the librarian looking around the room in complete shock – before Dee rushed past her. "C'mon!" She cried. "We gotta stop Rinoa before she hurts someone !"

"...I..." Quistis croaked, reaching up to remove her glasses, clasping them in her hand as it fell back to her side. "...I..."

Angel said nothing. She clasped her hands to her chest, looking down at the ground, unable to speak, unable to move. On the other side of the infirmary, Rinoa was beginning to punch and beat the body she was straddling, her psychic roars becoming almost unable to bear.

"Dammit!" The young Immortal spat before rushing forward. Thunder was beginning to emit from the area, lightening arcing out to blast students and SeeD's away alike, flipping them across the infirmary like rag dolls. Vaulting over a fallen stretcher and sliding under another, Dee rolled around a fleeing student and slammed into a wide-eyed Kadowaki, the doctor falling to the ground and looking up to Dee in shock, a hypodermic needle grasped tightly in her shaking hand. She had been trying to fight the urge to run before Dee had gotten her out of the way of a haphazard Thundara.

"...Sed...sed...sed..." She stammered, before Dee rudely grabbed the needle out of her hand.

"Sedative, I get it." Dee muttered, putting the needle in her mouth and pulling her hair back into a ponytail, drawing a large breath in through her nostrils...before starting.

Skidding out from behind the stretcher she had hid Kadowaki, she immediately leapt back across to it, lightening arcing out to blow a chunk of concrete from where she had been crouched just a moment before. Launching off the stretcher, she ran _along the wall _for three steps, leaping off from it to slam straight into Rinoa's back, knocking the two of them off the stretcher and onto the ground, the sorceress immediately beginning to kick and punch the younger girl, static flashing off her to score Dee's flesh, the Immortal gritting her teeth hard as she grabbed Rinoa's hands, pulled her arms out wide – and headbutted her viciously, the sickening crack emitting over the crackle of static and rumble of thunder echoing throughout the infirmary.

Rinoa, now with a small cut on the forehead, looked to Dee with a blazing anger in her glowing eyes, blood slowly oozing from the wound...before the glow began to slowly fade. The sorceress blinked, reaching up to grasp the hypodermic needle jutting from the vein in her neck, pulling it out and looking at it confusingly – before her eyes rolled back into her skull and she relaxed, collapsing to the ground.

Breathing heavily and clutching the bleeding, smoking scorch in her side, Dee pushed herself to her feet gingerly, looking out over the infirmary. The pandemonium had been replaced by mute chaos – girls began to slowly appear from cover to rush out to their wards, replacing IV-bags and getting them back into their beds. Dr. Kadowaki had to be helped to her feet before she could hobble over to Dee. "Thank you my dear...I'm afraid she had lost complete control when she had seen..."

Her voice trailed off as she realized what Dee was looking at, her torment welling in her eyes. Kadowaki looked down to Squall, lying on the ground, a mass of limp limbs. IV cords snaked from both arms, a tube still wedged down his throat. He was shirtless, several monitoring pads attached to his chest, two defib-pads stuck to his left breast, flanking his heart. The skin around the defib pads were curled, blistered and scorched, and if the shock wasn't still spinning in Dee's mind, she would've realised that, Full Life not working, the hysterical Sorceress had tried to jump start his heart with her magic.

Dee's eyes tore themselves away from Squall's body slowly, looking up to the surrounding stretchers. Sound seemed to bleed away from the world, everything beginning to move in slow motion, like some kind of ancient silent film.

Seifer's was closest. Quistis stood before it, one hand still grasping her glasses tight, the other gripping his ankle, the only thing protruding from the blanket which covered his body. Her head was bowed, the tears falling from behind the blond tresses which shielded her face from outside view. The hand that gripped the ankle tugged it again and again, as if to rouse him from his slumber, ready for the new day.

Selphie lay on the floor in the aisle still, her mouth wide as she wailed noiselessly, her fingers gripping at the smooth tiled floor. Tears were streaming down her face, her nose running as well – she looked like a lost child, crying for her mother. But she was looking over to the stretcher beside Seifer's – and the cowboy hat that lay discarded on the floor beside it, a limp hand hanging out from beneath a sheet.

She didn't want to look. Her heartbeat, already jacked up from subduing Rinoa, was beginning to feel like it was going to burst from her chest. She saw her adopted mother, the woman she considered one of the closest people she knew, begin to walk down the aisle. Angel's face was serene, calm, blank of emotion. She turned to look to Quistis as she walked by her, stepping around Selphie delicately, before stepping up to -

Dee's hand grasped her shoulder, gripping it tightly as Angel grasped the corner of the sheet covering the body on the stretcher. "Ma..." Dee whispered, her hand digging into the librarian's shoulder. "...Dont. Please...i'm beggin' you..."

The sheet billowed out as Angel yanked it off the stretcher. Her knuckles were white as she looked down at Zell.

His arms hung loose off the sides of the bed. The mattress-sheet had come loose during the attempts to revive him, and had crumpled around his body. IV cords ran from his arms up to half-full IV bags, empty bags strewn over the floor. Half-full bags of melting ice surrounded the body, some still resting on his chest and stomach. His head had lolled to the side, displaying the tattoo on his face, his eyes gazing straight up to the ceiling. His hair was matted with still-drying sweat. An air-tube still protruded from his mouth, the air-pump resting discarded besides the pillow.

As Dee released Angel's shoulder and sank to the ground, burying her head in her hands, her shoulders heaving as she sobbed, Angel lifted her hands to her head, one hand still gripping the sheet, her fists balled as she pressed them to the sides of her head, as if her brains were about to explode from her ears – before she released an ear-splitting scream, the anguished howl echoing out into the bowls of the Garden.

* * *

"We did everything we could."

Dr. Kadowaki stood at the classroom window, looking down at the Quad, and the many, many bodies piling up wihtin. Even as she spoke, she could see more girls taking more and more bodies into the area, placing them down upon others. The smell was beginning to become terrible, even from her high view – the girls on the ground had been issued gas masks to cope with the smell and reduce the risk of disease. It wouldn't be long before they would have to perform a mass funeral – with a body count of this magnitude, it would either be a massive pyre, or a water funeral.

"This disease...virus...whatever it is...its... its elusive. We've tested and tested and still found absolutely nothing."

Matron sat at one of the classroom desks, her elbow resting on the desk, her head in her hand. She drew in a long breath before she spoke. "...Could it be magical?"

"Perhaps, but there would be signs of some sort that we would have noticed by now...some kind of mass casting from someone, or some kind of paramagical buildup somewhere...but there's nothing. Nothing we can tell at the moment, anyways."

"Have we gotten any autopsy reports from the Galbadian nation? Or Galbadia Garden?"

Dr. Kadowaki turned around to lean against the window sill, unable to look down at the Quad any longer. "Initial reports indicate a nervous system shut-down – whatever it is, it attacked the brain, and viciously. It seemed to eat away at the central cortex, literally disintegrating it, rendering the bodies useless. The effects are gradual after that...the body begins to shut down one vital organ after another like...someone yanking out a cog in a great, intricate machine, and the rest of the gears eventually slow to a stop." She looked up to Matron, whose distressed look was obvious. Kadowaki held a hand up, shrugging apologetically. "...It looked worse then it was, if thats any consolation. ...Its extremely likely they didn't feel a thing after the initial panic before they passed out. After that it was just...a matter of time before the body shuts down..."

This seemed to give Matron some relief, who covered her eyes with her hand, drawing in a ragged breath before sitting back in her chair and folding her hands back into her lap, looking back up to Dr. Kadowaki, her eyes red but focused. "What about the rest of the planet. Any reports?"

"Well, we know about Deling and Timber...we've gotten reports from Dollet and Winhill of similar predictaments, but we're unsure of numbers. FH as well. There are scattered reports from villages around Trabia and Centra too." She sighed then, frowning before she spoke. "...Esthar has gone into total lockdown. No-ones been able to communicate with them at all, and its far too early to organise a search party..."

"Despite his bumbling nature, Laguna knows what he is doing." Matron replied confidently. "Estharians are shrewd people...they can wait until we've sorted our own situation out."

The two women fell silent. Dr. Kadowaki turned to look down at the Quad again, Matron looking down at the desk she sat at. It had once been Squalls, before he had completed his SeeDship and became Commander of Balamb. She still remembered meeting him, after the Time Compression, bleeding and beaten after defeating Ultimecea. Even then, so utterly ruined, he had a determined look in his eyes, a strength that defied logic. She had raised him in the orphanage for so long, remembering the rare smiles she'd coaxed out of him, throwing a tiny parade every time he would laugh, which would then cause the rest of the children to laugh...little Quistis, always serious and protective of Squall...Seifer, causing mischeif as usual...Zell, bursting full of energy and always the attention seeker...Irvine, always hanging out with the girls...Selphie, always clinging to Ellone's skirts, watching the boys from afar with wide-eyed wonderment...

The tears began to fall once again, and she chided herself mentally. "Come now..." She whispered to herself as she used the hem of her sleeve to wipe them away.

Dr. Kadowaki approached her, placing a hand on her shoulder comfortingly, Matron reaching up with her free hand to squeeze it gently. "...Edea..." Kadowaki began gently as Matron patted her hand, already knowing what she was going to say.

"...I know. I've lost a husband and some of my babies...but all I need is to make sure the rest stay safe." She said firmly. "...We need to figure this out. Not just Garden, not just us...but the rest of the world."

"Have you seen them since they got the news?" Dr. Kadowaki asked.

"Quistis had retreated into herself, as she always does...probably blaming herself one way or another...Selphie is inconsolable. She locked herself in their room and refused to open the door when I knocked. She will come out when she's hungry. Rinoa is resting with Angel and Dee – she apologizes for her outburst, by the way."

Kadowaki waved her hand dismissively. Edea continued. "Angel and Dee seem to be taking things in stride. I think they are dealing with it together...however, Angel hasn't left Rinoa's side yet..." She paused briefly, looking down at her hands as she spoke quietly. " ...Perhaps the Sorceress powers between Rinoa and herself help with..." She cut herself off, shaking her head dismissively.

"...About that..." Kadowaki said gravely, to which Matron raised a hand.

"I will not discuss it."

"You're no longer a threat, Edea, but we have two sorceresses who have just lost their knights. It will have to come up sooner or later, and the sooner the better." Her eyes narrowed as she leaned closer to Edea, her voice lowering to a whisper. "You know what power Angel contains now..."

"I understand that more then you ever could, but I'm telling you right now, you have nothing to concern yourself, or anybody else, about." Edea muttered with a simmering irritable nature in her voice, turning to look Kadowaki dead in the eye to ram the point home before looking back down to the hem of her sleeve, tugging at the tear stains covering it. "Besides...when Ultimecia took me over, I had nobody...Cid was here, running the Garden, and he..." Her voice trailed off for a moment, her eyes growing distant before she continued. "...And the children no longer...worked."

Dr. Kadowaki regarded Matron cautiously, frowning slightly. "What do you mean?"

Matron shook her head slightly, patting Kadowaki's hand again. "One day, when this is all behind us, I'll tell you. But for now..." She pushed herself to her feet, brushing down her skirts as she did, the smooth grey dress exemplifying her curves. "...I think I'll go check on Quistis again."

"Good luck." Dr. Kadowaki said, watching Matron leave the classroom, before turning to look down at the Quad once more. The weeks that follow would be the most difficult...of this she was sure.

* * *

Rinoa lay on the end of the bed, Angelo lying at the foot of the bed, his head resting on his forepaws, snoring quietly. The room was dark save for light slipping past the shades covering the window and cutting lines into the wall on the other side of the room.

The sorceress had awoken from another exhausted slumber slowly, having tired herself out with crying, her last memory being pain before the darkness engulfed her. She did not move from her position, resigning herself to watching the shafts of light on the wall dance as a soft breeze flowed through the window. Angel and Dee had disappeared, probably so she could rest properly...but she would never sleep restfully again. Not now.

She looked around the room, her eyes already adjusted to the gloom, her body still like a statue of a reclined goddess. Aside from the chaotically rumpled sheets and the recliners which had been moved from the living area to flank the bed, it was the same as always – spartan but for a woman's touch. Squall's life had been rather bare before Rinoa – barely anything distinguished the room from any other empty SeeD room, until you opened the cupboards to find neatly pressed clothes, and saw the alphabetically organized books and videos on the shelves. Squall didn't even have any personal furniture.

Now instead of only being the tv remote on the coffee table in the tiny lounge, there was a single, small vase with a bunch of small white flowers, carnations from the fields around Winhill – their 'place', the one where they had promised each other to find each other. Rinoa had spent weeks searching the Void there...searching for him. Whilst in the Void, time stood still – eternity forever. It had been a difficult month, searching for him, her searching growing more and more desperate every time she stepped into the nothingness...

Now Rinoa lived in the Void. The world was now truly black and white, all color bled from life like a beautiful animal with its throat slit. There was no joy in breath, taste or touch – sight, sound and smell all ground against her like course sandpaper. The picture of them in the Quad, Rinoa waving down the barrel of the camera while Squall bared the smallest of smiles. The smell of his gunblade's holster still lingered in the air – that thick leather smell hung heavy in the room. Before she would've complained about it and told him to oil it outside in the hall or in other room – now it brought tears to her eyes for another reason.

Her eyes slowly peeled away from the dancing shafts of light to the desk which they played down upon. Night after night he would sit there, head down, pen annoting paper succinctly, heaving a sigh as the pen paused, lifting to his lips to tap against the bottom one slowly, his scarred forehead creasing slightly in concentration before the pen would move back to paper, the slight scratching resuming once more. She would watch him from this exact position, long into the night, watching him work, watching him use his sharp mind to defeat enemies instead of the sharp weapon sheathed beside the desk, before he would finally place the mighty pen down and snap off the light, plunging the room into darkness – except for the shaft of moonlight swaying over him from the window as he stood, pushing the chair back in under the desk and turning to look to her.

A weary smile would creep over his tired face as he would approach the bed. She would reach forward to stroke his naked chest, feeling the scars on his flesh before hooking her fingers into his belt, pulling him down to her to hold him close, wrapping her arms and legs around him and clutching him tightly, stroking his hair as he breathed in the smell of her hair...

Tears cut channels down her cheeks, following old trails as she withdrew her hand from when she had tentatively raised it. She pulled it back towards her slowly, as if afraid of it, before letting it rest back where it had been before – only raised, the palm facing her and the fingers curled out, so the desk was hidden.

It did not help. Pulling her legs up to her chest, she buried her head into her knees and tried hard to not think about anything at all.

* * *

Angel and Dee had left Rinoa to sleep, but Angel had only gotten as far as her own room before she had asked Dee to move on without her. The librarian's eyes seemed dead when she had looked at Dee, and the younger woman was disgusted to feel a little happy to let her go – their combined grief had been too much for her to handle. Now she was alone, just as she had wanted – but there was nowhere to go. Death filled the corridors of the Garden, grief hung in its halls, hopelessness filled the air. Everywhere she went there was nothing but sadness. Women and girls, faces gaunt from the gory work, slumped in the halls, too tired to walk to their rooms. Too many were weeping, too many were sobbing, too many were grieving.

She wished for an escape, and had gripped the Uni-Blade tightly within her pocket, grasping it so tightly she could feel it creaking under her fingers. How easy would it be to cut her way into another world, slice a barrier away and move to a world full of life once more?

She wished she was back with her people, back to a place where death is something you could choose, even celebrate if you wished. This world, with its sudden and rude departures, sickened her, and as she walked she actually felt her stomach churning, placing a hand upon it in a vain effort to placate it. Growing quickly pale, she elbowed a girl out of her way and came upon a trash-receptacle beside a bench in the main foyer. She grasped the edges of the rubbish-bin with both hands as she vomited into it, heaving loudly, expelling the protein bars she had eaten all the way back in Trabia, and the tea and biscuits from Timber. Tears fell from her face as she began to sob loudly, her whole body shaking with the sobs as confusion rattling around within her brain as to why she was being sick in a rubbish bin when she had been feeling fine up till now...

Suddenly she felt warm hands caress her back, soft voices gently easing her mind as she used her sleeve to wipe her mouth, her face burning hot red with embarrassment at the state she was in.

When she looked up she saw the Matron lady, the woman Quistis and Selphie talked about with such warmth in their voices. The older woman seemed to have a glow about her, her raven hair framing her still-beautiful face, and as she smiled down to the girl she asked her if she was okay. The words entered Dee's ears like a warm silk breeze, completely slipping past her defenses and striking her heart like a sharpened spike, lancing the coldness which was beginning to form before it had even had a chance to take shape.

The girl sunk to her knees, her sobs now meeting the crescendo of wails around her as she gripped the Matron's skirt with both hands, burying her face into the soft fabric and wept out her soul, feeling the soothing touch brush her hair back, smoothing it down, smothering the anguish with the gentle touch and even gentler words.

* * *

Selphie worked. Pressing the release on the handle of the gun, she pulled the magazine from the feed in the bottom of the Vincent Valentine .45, placing the gun down as she pulled the .45 ammunition box to sit in front of her and flicked the bullets out with her thumb, one at a time. She needed to keep the springs in the magazines supple – leaving the bullets in for long periods made the springs less springy, unable to push the bullets into the chambers as efficiently as a fresh spring and potentially causing jams by leaving bullets sitting halfway into the chamber. When the magazine was empty she placed it to one side and pressed in the release stud on the underside of the rack and pulled the slide lever down, allowing the slide to be pulled out from the body of the handgun, exposing the barrel and spring within.

It was the only thing she could do. She'd tried crying. That had worked for a while, but soon she had found herself sitting on the edge of the bed, his hat in her hands, her feet bopping up and down rapidly on the ground as she stared into space. She didn't know how long she'd done it for. Time felt like it was slow.

She'd tried throwing a fit. She'd thrown the hat away and tipped over the coffee table, allowing the glass top to shatter brilliantly as she picked up a spare handgun magazine he'd left in the folds of the couch and thrown it at the TV with all her might, flinching as it exploded into blue sparks, smoke pouring out of the shattered front. She'd screamed until her voice was hoarse, then screamed some more until she spat blood. She'd hugged herself so tightly that her nails had dug into the flesh in her arms, smashed her fists into the walls, chairs, tables, cupboards, anything that was in reach. Once she'd demolished the couch, literally tearing it apart with her bloodied hands, an eerie calm washed over her.

She'd gone to his desk and pushed the buildup of papers and soda cans onto the floor, ignoring the clatter as she sat down at the chair. His desk wasn't really a desk anymore – over the years he'd added bits and pieces to it until it had become something of a gun locker/station. Everything he'd need was here – spare barrels for his handguns and rifles, ammo stacked neatly in boxes to one side that auto-fed into a series of pigeon-holes for easy access, and enough screws, springs and bolts to keep a tinker happy for hours.

Sucking the blood from her thumb, she had placed it onto the pad before her, allowing it to scan and unlock the desk, components springing open and sliding out for her to use. Selphie had almost strangled him when he had first shown it to her – she had found it so cool, she demanded to be able to use it – then never did, except to keep some spare chain for her nunchaku.

Grabbing the appropriate rod from a drawer, she attached the right rag and, with a squirt of gun-oil, began to clean the barrel of the gun, running the rod and rag down into the barrel, cleaning the rifling and keeping it squeaky clean. Once that was done she placed it down and picked up the handle of the gun, picking up another, different rag and began to polish the magazine feed and rack, pushing the rag down into the handle to get any loose grit from the trigger.

She worked silently. She could see him doing this, almost every time they'd had a spare moment. She remembered the first time she'd seen him do it – on the train he had given up bugging her and sat down in the aisle quietly, seeming to not want to leave her side. He'd pulled his shotgun apart as quickly as she'd been able to see, deftly holding the stock under his arm as he'd checked the barrels, pulling out a small rag to clean a bit of accumulated dirt from the lever-point. He'd worked with such an intense look on his face, she had been slightly taken aback – his eyes no longer held the glinting charisma he'd been sporting before. She'd found out later that there was a reason he was so serious about the cleanliness of his guns – without them, he was almost defenseless. Being paramagically impotent left him at a great disadvantage to most other enemies and monsters – thus, he had become quite pragmatic about the maintenance of his guns.

She looked up at the rack above the desk. There were around eight shotguns and rifles hung there, including the shotgun he'd been using when she had met him. Pausing in her work, she reached up to run her fingers over the stock, marred and chipped from the battles they had been in.

Looking back down at the handle in her hand, she replaced the spring and barrel, sliding the rack back into the place and letting the rack lever to spring back into place with a _click!_

Pulling the slide back so the chamber was exposed, the rack lever clicking into place to keep it held back, she dug into the ammo box beside her and pulled out a .45 round. She held the fat bullet between her forefinger and thumb, regarding it impassively, before placing it into the chamber of the gun. She looked down at the golden shell in the gun winking up at her, a bloodied thumbprint on the edge of the shell casing – before her thumb pressed the rack slide down, the rack slamming into place with a jarring metallic snap. She drew a long breath into her lungs, closing her eyes as she felt her chest expand before letting the breath out through her nose...

A knock on the door made her jump in her chair. The silence had cocooned her, wrapping her up warmly, and the sudden sound was like a cattle prod to the spine. The knock came again and she realized that she had been staring at the door. She quickly pulled the slide of the Vincent Valentine back, the .45 bullet flipping out to be caught in her hand. She placed both the gun and the blood-smudged bullet onto the desk and got up, moving over to the door to open it wide, looking out to Angel. The librarian smiled down to her, her eyes red and puffy, and Selphie looked down at what she was holding onto in her hands.

"I...I t-thought you could use a h-hot c-chocolate..."Angel stammered, trying to hold back tears as she saw what state Selphie was in. "B-but i-if you don't want it..."

Selphie closed the door quickly, her eyes wide as she looked back to the room, the sounds of Angel's sobbing soft through the door. She looked back at the destruction that was surrounding her and felt something bubble out from the emptiness that had swallowed her insides. Regret? She wasn't sure at the moment. All she knew was that she couldn't stay in the room another second longer – it would consume her, this room, and she suddenly, she needed to be far, far away from it.

She opened the door again and grabbed a cup from Angel's hand, startling the weeping woman. "...Thank you Angel..." She mumbled, looking from the cup to her tear stained face to the cup again – before turning and walking away without a word, not even bothering to shut the door behind her. Angel, feeling more then confused, looked from Selphie to the room and the carnage that had occurred within, before reaching out and closing the door – before setting forth to catch up with Selphie, having to break into a trot in order to catch up.

Within the room, the Vincent Valentine sat, alone except for the blood-stained bullet that had only just occupied its chamber.

Silence once more wrapped itself around the room, smothering it completely.

* * *

Quistis walked amongst the dead within the Quad, her beautiful face covered by a mask which held back both the smell and the risk of disease. The bodies had all been collected now – over four thousand males, men, teenagers and boys, all wrapped in blankets or curtains, anything to keep their bodies contained. There were about twenty women and girls who had volunteered to confirm the identities of them all – these girls were now walking down the rows slowly, crouching down to stare at dead, holding ID pads over their faces so it could scan them and check the SeeD databases.

She had cried. She'd gone back to their room and beat her fists against the walls, screamed into a pillow until she was hoarse. She'd taken a long, hot shower, scrubbing herself until she actually felt the pain. Then she had dressed in some clean clothes, placed the dirty ones into the washing recepticle, made sure her hair was done and shut the door behind her, making sure it was firmly locked.

Her blue eyes scanned the rows upon rows of bodies. They were dry, but there was a glint of determination in them. The glint had been there the instance she'd felt pain again in her body, the epiphany rocking her as the water had cascaded down around her.

She knew what had to be done. She knew what would fix this.

She just needed to convince the others.

* * *

Rinoa stepped out of the elevator to the third floor to look over the bridge of the Garden. All the stations had been manned by their female counterparts – there was no risk of the Garden having a malfunction in this time of crisis. Matron stood at the head of the bridge, Xu at the helm. Quistis stood beside her, talking to her and Xu. Angel, Selphie and Dee all sat at a couch at the base of the bridge, behind Cid's desk. Rinoa vaguely noted that it looked smaller without him sitting behind it.

Quistis looked up as Rinoa entered, bending down to say something to Xu again before standing upright again. Matron grabbed her sleeve, a piercing look burning at Quistis – who shrugged her hand free as she walked down to Rinoa and wrapped her arms around her, holding her close. "Hey Rinoa..." She whispered as she held her tightly, the sorceress' arms hanging limply by her sides. Quistis pulled back after a second, grasping her shoulders and smiling to her, nodding encouragingly. "...Thanks for coming out."

She turned to the trio sitting on the couch behind her. "Thanks to all of you. I...I know this is difficult, but, I think..."

"Quistis!" Matron barked.

"...I have a solution." Quistis finished, looking straight to Matron as she said it.

Matron's heart dropped as she watched all the girl's head's look up to Quistis. Rinoa shook her head as tears began to fall down her cheeks once more.

Quistis turned back to Rinoa and held her close again. "It's okay, shh, its alright..."

"No, no I know what you want to do..." Rinoa groaned, shaking her head again as she began thumping her fist weakly into Quistis' side.

"Its too risky, Quistis!" Matron barked again.

"...What is?" Dee asked quietly to Angel, whose face had gone ashen white.

"Our world is dying and we need to find a solution, this is the best solution, the only solution!" Quistis began to say, before being cut off by Matron.

"It may _seem_ like a solution Quistis, but its _not,_ because you'll be condemning yourself to the a similar fate as...!"

"I already told you, we did it before..."

"Yes, and you almost killed yourself in the process, not to mention, you did it to stop someone from doing _exactly_ the same thing you are asking us to _condone_ now! You cant change your mind about this just because the circumstances have changed!"

"But they have!" Quistis cried, holding Rinoa closer, the sorceresses beginning to have to fight for breath.

"What has?" Dee cried.

"...We have to." Selphie said, speaking up. "...This isn't some selfish reason, Quistis is right, we need to do it for the world..."

"Squall would never agree to this!" Rinoa cried again, pushing herself from Quistis' embrace to step away from them all, almost tripping over in the process. "You're mad for even thinking it! All of you, mad!" She screamed before running out of the room, her face buried in her hands.

"Rinoa, wait!" Quistis cried, running after her – before tripping on the same step Rinoa stumbled on, falling to her hands and feet with a cry.

"Okay, time out!" Dee shouted, shoving herself to her feet and walking to the middle of the room. "I want to know what the _fuck_ everybody is talking about, and I wanna know _now!"_

The entire bridge was still before a single voice spoke up, serene like a summer breeze.

"...Time Compression."

All eyes turned down to Angel. The woman had sat back into the couch when Dee had stood up, drawing her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them. She spoke softly, the sadness rife in her voice as she spoke to her knees. "...She wants to compress time to the point before all the men got sick. She wants to fix all this by turning back the clock, making it so it doesn't happen."

Dee had her hands on her hips, nodding as her adoptive mother spoke. "Right, okay, and why haven't we done this already?" She asked nobody in particular. To her, this sounded like a brilliant idea.

"Because the timeline isn't something you just ride like a train or mold into the shape you want." Matron said morosely as she walked down from the helm and into the center of the room, looking down to Dee but also looking around the room as a whole, speaking to all present. "The whole reason we formed SeeD and the Gardens was to prevent something like this from happening – people thinking that, because they have power, they should use it. A power this large should never, ever be used for personal gain!"

"But its not for..." Quistis cried, only to be cut off by Matron, they older woman's voice booming around the bridge.

"_Personal gain! _And don't try to justify it as anything else!" She repeated, stabbing a finger to Quistis, causing the woman to cringe on the floor. "We would be as guilty of it as Ultimecia, and do not think yourself above her anymore then you would above any one of these women around us! What you are asking is to change the fundamental rules of the universe itself, and we were not meant to do that!"

"Obviously we were, seeing as Rinoa has the power!" Quistis retorted.

Matron shook her head, folding her arms under her chest as she spoke out again. "Rinoa has the power but she cannot focus it! Only Ellone has that ability. Do you understand?"

"Then what do we do?" Dee cried. "What is going to happen now! I'll tell you whats going to happen now, we're all going to die, thats what! Without the guys around, we'll all just grow old and wither away, one by one!"

"Not nessecarily." Matron said with dignity. "The Gaian race still has a few cards up their sleeves...but for now, we have to put this nonsense out of our minds. We must not compress time! It is the single most dangerous thing to have ever happened to this world, and we will not be the instigators of a second chance! We only just beat Ultimecia the last time – we must not let that fight be in vain!"

She looked down to Dee, then to Quistis, before finally to Angel. "Do we all understand this?"

Dee looked back to Angel, who kept hugging her legs. Quistis pushed herself to her feet slowly, dusting herself off, her back turned to the group. Dee couldn't see her face as she stalked out of the room, the doors automatically shutting behind her.

"Matron..." Xu called, causing the older woman to turn to look up to the helm. "...We're receiving word from the White SeeD ship."

"Thank you Xu." Matron replied, before placing her hand on Dee's shoulder. "...My dear, do not lose hope. Things may be dark now, but we will find a way. We always have."

"Dont say it to me, say it to them." Dee muttered, cocking a thumb to Angel and Selphie, still half catatonic on the couch.

Matron looked to the woman, and Dee was shocked to see tears welling in her eyes. "Well...time is on our side still. There is always hope." Then she turned and walked away from Dee, walking around the couch to mount the ramp up to the helm.

Dee walked over to the two woman. She didn't know what to think. The whole world was going topsey-turvey, and it was threatening to take her with it. It was hard to stay detached, to keep an outside eye on the whole thing. Immortal background or not, these people were her family – her Pa was, at the very least. To her, this Time Compression thing sounded like the best plan so far – a way to wipe the slate clean. Unfortunately, it was so early to tell what was happening. A part of her knew that it was seemed like such a good idea because, at the moment in time, it was their _only option available._

Dee looked down to Angel and Selphie. "Waddya you think, Selphie?" Dee whispered.

Selphie remained silent. The browned-haired girl turned her head to look to Angel, who continued to look forward. Dee bit her lip, waiting for one of them to say something.

She was surprised to hear Angel speak first. "...If we're to do it...we're going to have to do it without anybody's consent." She whispered. "Not Garden. Not the world. We'll be doing it for us, and only us. It'll be completely selfish, and totally arrogant, to think we can mess with Time and come out of it in one piece."

The two women before her were quiet for a moment.

"...I can live with that." Selphie murmured.

"...Me too." Dee replied with a slight but firm nod.

Selphie and Angel looked up as Matron walked back down the ramp, her face pale. Dee turned and blinked in surprise. "...Whats wrong?"

Matron looked like she had seen a ghost, her hands clasped before her tightly as she spoke. "...Ellone has received word from Esthar. They had a dignitary stationed in Galbadia as part of the peace agreement outlined after the Second Sorceress War was ended." She drew in a large breath. "...This dignitary has requested an audience with the most influential people left in the planet to discuss what has occurred."

"Sounds fair enough." Dee muttered, Angel and Selphie both looking down again. It was bound to happen eventually.

"That's not all...it seems the Estharians have decided that this has been a magical attack after all...they believe a Sorceress is the one behind it, and...they believe it was one person who did it."

Selphie, Angel and Dee all looked at Matron, wide eyed, disbelieving every word she had said. Matron drew in another large breath, letting it out slowly – before settling her eyes on Angel.

"...They believe it was you."

* * *

"_Dunno what to say to ya, missy." Barque muttered through a mouthful of burger, chewing thoughtfully as he looked over to Patrick. "...But it figure it _would_ be nice to be called a hero, if only for a little."_

"_You know exactly what I mean, Barque Dincht!" The woman shouted, waving her cooking spatula at him, causing him to wince as she shook little flecks of meat at him. She was a large woman – not portly, but solid. She certainly looked like she could handle herself in a fight. Her brown hair was wrapped neatly up in a green bandanna, a blue apron adorning her torso. Her brown eyes were ablaze. "Patrick's mercenary days are over now! He lost his father in this Sorceress War, I cant afford to lose him too!"_

"_Martha, we just helped the builders keep some monsters off the building site. It was the least we could do. Think of all the good this Garden place will do for the town once it opens..." Patrick started – before wincing himself as the spatula was leveled at him._

"_And as for you – I let you goof off with this muscle-bound idiot because you say he reminds you of your father, but you mind me – no amount of martial arts nor bullets will help you if I catch you getting into mischief!"_

_The bearded fist-fighter chewed on the burger, watching the two stare at each other intently – before swallowing his meal and standing from the table, slapping his hands down on the table as he did. "Well! Ultimatums aside, its time for us to leave for work. C'mon Pat!"_

"_Aye Bar, time for work, yes indeed!" Patrick Dincht said, leaping to his feet and planting a kiss on Martha Dincht's flustered cheek, deftly ducking a right hook as he ran for the door, scooping up his backpack and rifle as he did. Steam seemed to be rising from Martha's ears as she watched the man exit the little home – before she felt Barque's lips press quickly against her other cheek. With reflexes like greased lightening, the spatula rose up to score his tattooed cheek, the metallic cooking implement bending back as it pressed against his bearded face before the force of the blow sending him reeling out the door, tumbling to the ground to roll to Patrick's feet._

"_For Hyne's sake, man!" Barque cried as he caressed his throbbing cheek, a multi-beveled imprint caked with burger grease stamped over his tattoo. "Rein that woman in!"_

"_Red Dragons couldn't rein that woman in, married or no, now move it before she finds somethin' to throw!" Patrick shouted back to Barque, the fist-fighter looking up in surprise to see the rifleman already running down the road._

_The sleepy little town of Balamb was abuzz. The only real civilized area on the island of Balamb had been opened up to the world thanks to the new railway system that had finally been completed a few months before Barques arrival – and not long after that had come the people with crazy ideas about the old Centran ruins in the center of the island. _

_The two men's race out of town quickly ground to a halt as they left the exit, Patrick's rifle leaving it's back-holster to rest lazily in his hand, the dark-haired man leaning it against his shoulder as he marched alongside his older friend, Barque simply making sure his wrists were loose and knuckles were cracked. Although they could both handle any Geezards or Bite Bugs they stumbled across on the Alcauld Plains, it was better to be safer then sure._

_Besides, Martha would tan their hides if the either of them would come home hurt._

"_You know, Bar, its amazing how you managed stay hooked into our little town." Patrick said as they walked down the road, careful to avoid any cars that came barreling part."Man such as yourself, globe-trotting and such, Balamb doesn't seem the kind to stay in one place for very long."_

"_Well, our extra-curricular activities help with that..." Barque said with a smirk, to which Patrick replied with a hefty grin._

"_Yes sir, it does surely help the old coin purse as well!" Patrick said with a grin, shouldering his backpack a little as they walked. "And let me tell you, this latest job...by Hyne himself, I've never had a more cushy job my entire life."_

"_I reckon this stuff, the work we're doing now, is historical, Pat." Barque said seriously. "The people we work with, they're going to change the world. Imagine it – no more men dying needlessly in pointlessly. Our children will know how to defend themselves against all the chaos that litters the world, and at the end of it all...hopefully peace."_

"_Pft, another little prediction? You're not even drunk yet, Bar!" Patrick said with a guffaw, poking at him with the barrel of his rifle. "Ooo, tomorrow's weather will be mild but with a chance of rain!"_

_Barque batted the rifle away from him, scowling at his friend. "Hmph. Laugh all you want then. Just remember who got you this job when they write your name down in the history books."_

"_The Dincht name is already in the history books, my friend. My Pa did that for me." Patrick said with a nod. "Now all I gotta do is make sure my Martha is well looked after, and that we can..."_

_His voice trailed off before he could finish his sentence, and Barque turned his head to look at Patrick proper. "...Bad news huh?"_

_Patrick nodded, his head bowed as they walked. "...The doc visited the other day while you was away...he, erm...he says that Ma cant have any children."_

_Barque blinked at the news, his grey-blue eyes wide. "...What, ever?"_

_The rifleman simply nodded, and the two men walked onwards in silence. The fist-fighter lifted his hand to stroke his beard, his brow furrowed as if thinking of a solution to the problem. The dark-haired rifleman cleared his throat and spat onto the side of the road, shouldering his rifle once more. "...No need to fret, my friend. We got each other, that's all I care about. After that, well...we'll manage, I suppose."_

"_...Not necessarily." Barque said as they came over a small crest to reveal the massive Centran ruins jutting out of the plains at the foot of the mountains. The old building was gigantic, several warehouses wide and the same deep, and over five stories tall. The monolithic structure had been on the island for as long as people could remember – the only problem was, nobody could remember how to work it._

_However, two people had a dream...and they intended to make it work. One way or another._

"_Ho Cid!" Barque called as they neared the structure, the whir of machinery and shouts of engineers and builders in their FH dialect wafting over the open Balamb breeze. _

_Standing on the outskirts of the construction were two people – one was a woman with long flowing black hair, her body clad in a plain grey dress which went all the way down to her feet, a grey knitted shawl wrapped around her torso – but this couldn't keep her beauty in check, her breathtaking body still illustrated by the close-hugging cloth of her dress. Many of the FH builders were being moved to distraction with her present, running into walls and dropping equipment as they passed her. The woman seemed to either ignore or not notice these actions when they occurred. _

_The man who stood next to her, almost half a foot shorter then her, was an older man in his forties, dressed in a pair of grey slacks and wearing a plaid vest. He had neatly cropped brown hair and a pair of spectacles adorning his face, and if it wasn't for the very interesting weapon strapped to his side, he wouldn't look out of place at the Deling University. He turned and smiled a beaming smile, approaching the two men to shake their hands vigorously. "Ah, Mister Barque, Mister Dincht, thank you so much for joining us for this!"_

"_Patrick Dincht, Cid Kramer." Barque introduced. "The little bugger is going to change the world, aren't you Cid?"_

"_Eheh...not just me, sir, my wife is just as much to blame as me...come Edea, come say hello..." Cid said curtly, beckoning the younger woman forward, who approached the two men and curtsied slightly, evidently shy._

"_Hello there..."_

"_Madam..." Barque said with a small smile, grasping her small hand and kissing the back of it gently, causing the woman to blush softly, taking her hand back to wonder just how he'd managed to snare it. Patrick only nodded his hellos to the woman, who seemed fine with that, and turned to Cid._

"_Mister Kramer, we're to understand that you will be needing additional assistance for an expedition back to Centra, which has become a troubling problem for you." Patrick said professionally. "As my colleague has probably told you, I've had a lot of experience in 'problem solving'."_

"_Yes, Barque has told us a lot about you during his travels with us." Cid remarked. "You're the son of the legendary soldier, correct?"_

"_Yes Sir, he taught me all he knew."_

"_Excellent! You'll be the perfect bodyguard for me whilst I overlook the construction of the Garden!"_

_Barque blinked, confused. "Er, Cid, I thought you were _both_ going back to Centra."_

"_Oh no, Barque, I need to stay here and liaise with the builders for our benefactor. He's a touch eccentric, you see, and not one for..."_

"_..For new company, yeah I remember the last time you told me." Barque said, hands on hips in frustration. "Well, that's a job for old Pa here, but what about me?"_

"_Well, I'll need you to escort Edea back to the orphanage on Centra for me." Cid said with a curt nod. "She requested you herself. You really proved yourself on the ship back when we first met you!"_

"_Yeah, well..." Barque said, shrugging his shoulders dismissively before turning to Edea. "...Are you sure about this?"_

_Edea nodded slightly. "I'm sure I'll be quite safe with you, Mister Barque." She said with a small smile, to which Barque returned his own._

"_Well, I guess we'll set off now then...you've got all your stuff together?" He asked her, to which she nodded to the small pack beside her, before Cid took her aside to say his goodbyes. Barque turned to Patrick and clapped his hand onto his shoulder. "Well, my friend, I guess I get the short end of the stick this time."_

"_What are you talking about?" Patrick muttered, holding a hand up so the other couple wouldn't hear. "Stuck traveling with a hot babe like that? Just make sure you keep yer hands to yerself, got it?" He said, poking Barque in the ribs with his finger._

"_Hmph, well...i don't think that's going to be a problem..." Barque muttered as he watched Cid and Edea kiss briefly, a small peck on the cheek for Cid, before the tall, shapely woman grabbed her pack and shouldered it, approaching Barque and Patrick._

"_Mister Dincht, it was a pleasure to meet you. Mister Barque, we need to catch a train to Deling. From there it is a two day trip to Winhill, followed by a charter to the Cape of Good Hope."_

"_Indeed it is." The older man said with a nod, nodding his goodbye to Patrick before beckoning for Edea to follow him with the jerk of his head._

_The woman blinked, a little flustered, and with a quick curtsy to Patrick and a wave to Cid, broke into a little trot in order to catch up to the short fist-fighter._

_Patrick walked up to stand beside Cid, who smiled up to him. "You sure you only want me to be with you? Shouldn't I go with them?" He asked the stately older man, who laughed a little heartily._

"_My new friend, I'll let you in on a little secret – I believe Barque to be one of the strongest men I have ever met. And if push ever came to shove, he has Edea by his side. She will keep him safe, let me assure you."_

"_Mmm..." Patrick murmured in agreement, looking over his shoulder to the couple disappearing into the horizon, a look of concern etched onto his face..._

* * *

_Hey there folks. Time for another quarterly release! Again, I apologise for taking so long to release these chapter. Please be rest assured, I'm trying to make them as enjoyable a read for you as I can. Wish me luck on the next one!_


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